


Affinity

by flowerfan



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Angst, Break Up, Caring, Domestic Fluff, Episode coda series, First Kiss, Friendship, Getting Back Together, Grief, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, Love, M/M, POV Alternating, Pining, episode coda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2020-11-08 07:44:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 40,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20831867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowerfan/pseuds/flowerfan
Summary: A continuous story of season 10 episode codas which creates one unified story.  Steve may describe their relationship as a dysfunctional marriage, but at some point, will he and Danny take a closer look at what it really could be?  (The answer is yes.)





	1. 10.01

**Author's Note:**

> Note: this is a new coda series, a separate story from the season 9 coda series Bound To Be Together.

Danny extracts himself from the group hug, brushing Tani’s hair out of his face, and wanders over to the shrimp truck to get more beer. He’s going to need it, especially if Steve insists on behaving this way. First he leaps off a building only to scrabble pitifully at a pipe with his fingertips – and pipes like that clearly weren’t intended for parkour; to be clear, not much is – and then Steve refuses to listen to Danny’s advice regarding Brooke. 

A few minutes later, Danny tries to bring up the Brooke situation again, but Steve just raises an eyebrow and turns away to ask Jerry about the book he wants to write. He tells himself Steve isn’t really mad at him, he just likes to give him shit. It’s their usual banter, back and forth until one of them cries uncle (or someone pulls a gun; these days it’s usually not even Steve or Danny doing the shooting).

Danny would be more annoyed if Steve wasn’t genuinely interested in Jerry’s new project, if his questions didn’t make Jerry light up and launch into a passionate description of all the research he’s already done. This is Jerry’s party, after all, and he deserves to be the focus of Steve’s attention.

Danny gets up from the picnic bench, leaning close to Steve as he climbs over the seat. “Be right back,” he says, face practically scraping against Steve’s scruff. Steve nods and reaches out, patting Danny somewhere on his thigh as he stands.

Danny makes a show of stretching as he walks away from the group, but really he just needs a moment to calm himself down. The undercurrent of annoyance at Steve he’s feeling today is bothering him more than usual, and he’s not sure why. Steve’s superhero tendencies aren’t new, even if the gray in his beard is. Frankly, Steve’s entirely unwarranted success with women isn’t new either.

But there’s something about the past few days that has him wound up, and it isn’t the monster truck chase through Waikiki (which, admittedly, was awesome).

Tani comes up next to him and scans the beach in the direction Danny is staring. “Something particularly fascinating out there?”

Danny can feel himself pouting. He’s really not in the mood for Tani’s sass right now. 

“You wanna tell me why you’re in the doghouse? Did you forget an anniversary, or something?”

Danny actually freezes for a minute, stomach dropping at the through that he might have forgotten something important. It’s pretty close to the day he and Steve met, but they actually celebrated that with steaks and a bottle of excellent scotch last week. 

“Nah, nothing like that.”

“Then what is it? You know we hate it when mom and dad fight.”

Danny shakes his head. He doesn’t even protest the “mom and dad” characterization, it’s been going on forever, and, honestly, he likes it. But even if he wanted to share, he doesn’t know how to explain his current frustration to Tani, not when he doesn’t really get it himself. 

Tani won’t give up, though, so Danny sticks with the predictable topic. “Steve won’t let me help him with his date.”

Tani turns towards him. “Does he really need help?”

“Obviously. He’s gonna mess it all up with Brooke, otherwise. He’s hopeless.”

Tani pokes at the sand with her manicured toes, making little circles. “You really want this thing with Brooke to go well?” 

“Yeah, of course I do. That’s why I’m trying to help.”

Tani doesn’t look convinced. “I hear you called him multiple times. During his actual dinner with this girl.”

“He didn’t reply to my texts, what was I supposed to do?”

“Danny,” Tani says, bumping her shoulder up against his arm. “Maybe back off a little bit. Give him some space. Stop pulling his pigtails. You’re kinda sending mixed messages.”

“What?” Danny steps away, arms coming up in front of him. “What – what are you talking about? I’m not – pulling his – the man’s hair is finally at a reasonable length, sure, but he doesn’t have-” Danny can’t seem to stop sputtering, and it’s making Tani cackle.

“Whatever you say, Danno.” Tani walks back towards the group, shaking her head, and Danny finds himself alone on the beach. He was _not_ pulling Steve’s pigtails. He was just trying to be a good friend, a good wingman.

Wasn’t he?

Later that night Danny is idly watching a football game on tv, pretending he doesn’t know how it’s going to end. Of course even if he hadn’t managed to be spoiled already he could have predicted it; Oklahoma is wildly favored to win and they put points on the board just minutes into the first quarter.

Steve really doesn’t need Danny’s help with women, and Danny knows it. Steve’s a blazingly hot guy with a sexy job and a strut that lets everyone know he’s well aware of how he looks with that thigh holster wrapped tight around his leg. He’s going to score with Brooke just as surely as the Sooners are going to wipe the floor with the Raiders.

Danny groans and rubs his face. If he knows Steve is capable of pulling off an acceptable date night, why has Danny been pestering Steve so much? Why can’t he just let him go off and play with his new friend?

There are things you don’t admit to yourself often, like the fact that you lie about flossing to the dental hygienist every single year. And then there are things that you really don’t admit to yourself because you simply can’t do it, because to admit it would cause your whole world to crack. Danny is starting to think that the reason he is so invested in Steve’s date with Brooke – that Danny even arranged for the ungrateful putz – is skating a little too close to the latter.

Whatever the reason, though – and he pushes away any contemplation of such reason for another, very far away day – Danny may have screwed up a little. And he hates it when Steve is annoyed with him. It ruins everything. He knows Steve was joking when he said that he and Brooke were “breaking up” with him, but it stung anyway. 

Danny can’t let anything happen to what he has with Steve. He may have a whole ‘ohana in Five-0, but Danny knows damn well who’s at the center of it. 

Biting his lip, he grabs his phone and sends off a text.

_Hey, you up?_

Steve responds quickly, to Danny’s relief.

_To what do I owe the honor? I’m not even on a date._

Ouch.

_Sorry I’ve been a pest. Just wanted you to have a good time._

_Don’t worry about it. I know you love me._

Danny relaxes, warmth spreading in his chest as he types back. _Wanna come watch the Oklahoma game? It’s a nail-biter._ He holds his breath.

_Sure. Be over in ten. You know I can’t resist a good game._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm doing this again - please let me know if you are along for the ride! As with season 9, I'm going to do my best to write a McDanno story that is weaved in with what canon gives us. I'm doing my best to remain spoiler-free, but even with the tiny bits of spoilers I couldn't avoid I can tell that writing McDanno this year may be a challenge.
> 
> I'd love to hear from you - your support in this endeavor means everything!


	2. 10.02

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one came out a little more angsty than I thought it would... clearly the boys aren't content.

Steve makes sure the grill has cooled and moves his lawn chairs back to where they belong. He drags his and Danny’s chairs back down to the water, and brings the rest up to the lanai.

Of course, they’re not really his and Danny’s chairs. But he can’t help but think of them like that sometimes, especially times like right now, when all he wants is to sit there with his best friend and let go of the last of the day’s tension.

Having the gang over for dinner helped, of course it did. Seeing Junior up and about, despite his concussion. Teasing Tani about how she takes care of him. They’re a good match for each other. 

Steve isn’t sure whether Junior and Tani’s partnership goes further than work and friendship, but hey, sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference. This is a problem Steve is well acquainted with.

He sees a light flicker on in the house, and feels a tingle of pleasure. He likes knowing that Danny is inside, safe. There’s no need to wonder where he is, or what he’s doing. 

Steve would have preferred to keep Danny with him today, on the scene of the tunnel collapse, but he wasn’t needed there – he had to try to hunt down their escapee. And Steve’s used to that, he knows that Danny is more than capable of taking care of himself. But it still stresses him out to know that people are shooting at Danny without Steve at his back.

Steve shuts off the outside lights and comes into the house, grabbing a bottle of whiskey from the sideboard in the dining room. He turns the corner into the kitchen and pauses, leaning against the doorframe.

Danny is silhouetted in the light coming through the window, a red and white striped dishcloth slung over his shoulder. Steve watches the way his muscles play under his skin as he lifts a tray and wipes it dry. 

Someday Steve might convince Danny to wear short-sleeved shirts to work, like the t-shirt which is currently gracing his compact body. But today is not that day.

No, instead today was another day of Danny trying to disguise his hurt with banter. If Steve didn’t know him so well, Danny certainly would have succeeded. Steve’s sure the team didn’t notice. But ever since Steve’s thoughtless comment about “breaking up” with Danny for Brooke, Danny has been wounded.

They banter all the time, that’s nothing new. But when Danny is upset, there’s a bitter aftertaste to it, like a pill poorly masked by something artificially sweet. 

Danny shifts to set the tray down on the counter, and sees Steve in the doorway. His face remains resolutely neutral.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Steve says, gesturing to the dishes. “I would have taken care of them tomorrow.”

Danny shrugs. “It’s fine.” He looks back at the sink, but it’s empty, and he doesn’t have more washing as an excuse to avoid Steve’s gaze. Danny’s head tilts to the side, just a bit, as he sighs and turns around.

“You still mad at me?” Steve asks quickly, cutting off whatever Danny was about to say.

“No.”

He is. Mad, or embarrassed, and hurt. And stubborn. Always so stubborn.

“You are.” Steve is stubborn too. It’s a strength, mostly.

Danny scowls at him.

“I didn’t mean anything by not getting you a steak, you know that. Eddie was a hero today-”

“I know Eddie was a hero, enough with that already. He’s the best dog in the world, he’s a superhero, he’s a fucking Avenger. I’m not mad about the damn steak.” 

“Then why are you acting like you’re mad?”

“I am not-” Danny takes a breath and forcibly lowers his voice. “I am not mad.”

“Danny, come on, you are.”

Danny cocks a hip against the kitchen island. “Why you gotta be like this, Steve, huh?”

“Like what?” Steve responds automatically, although he’s getting the feeling he has lost track of the point of this conversation. It’s like picking at a scab, arguing back when Danny starts up. But it isn’t at all what he meant to do tonight.

“Like you don’t know what’s really wrong. That it’s not about the goddamn steak.”

Steve feels his stomach drop, because Danny is right. But he doesn’t know how to fix it. The silence drags on too long, and then Danny shakes his head and pushes past Steve into the living room.

“Must be because we’re broken up,” Danny says to the floor as he grabs his jacket. “You don’t need to talk to me anymore, you can just talk to Brooke.”

“Danny,” Steve says, following him through the room. 

“What?”

“Don’t go.” The words tumble out, finally.

Danny stares at him, then glances down to where Steve is still gripping the bottle of whiskey by the neck. “What’s that?”

Steve resists the urge to say “a bottle of whiskey,” and sticks with answering Danny’s real question. “I was gonna ask you to have a drink with me.” Steve searches Danny’s face, but he’s not giving anything away. “I picked this up special for us tonight, when I was out getting dinner.” He holds out the bottle. “It’s not steak, but…”

“You sure you don’t want to call up Brooke?” Danny asks, chin jutting out. “Bet she’d like it too.”

“I don’t want to hang out with Brooke tonight. I want to hang out with you.”

Steve can see the moment Danny relents, his posture subtly relaxing. 

“Ok, fine.”

They continue to stare at each other for a moment, regaining their equilibrium. Then Danny tosses his jacket on the couch and looks expectantly at Steve.

“It’s a nice night,” Steve says, and Danny nods in agreement. 

They bring glasses down to the beach and settle in their chairs. Steve pours them each a generous serving and sets the bottle down in the sand. Neither of them speak for a while, letting the alcohol and the rhythmic sound of the ocean waves soothe them.

Finally Steve starts talking, keeping his voice low. “I thought we were okay, after we watched the game together the other night. But I guess we weren’t.”

Danny takes another sip of the whiskey. “I thought we were too.”

“Then what happened?” Steve feels his voice tighten with each word.

“I don’t know, Steve. I just… I don’t know.”

“But we’re good now?” Steve waits, and Danny doesn’t answer. “What do you want, a formal apology?”

The silence continues, and Steve thinks back over the past few days. Come to think of it, he really hadn’t apologized at all, formal or otherwise.

“Danny, you had to know I was joking. I’m not breaking up with you, not that we could even break up, since we’re not…”

Danny’s head comes up and suddenly his face is clear as day, eyes bright in the moonlight. “We’re not what?”

And that’s it, then, Steve realizes sharply. They’re not together, not in the way that he is or might someday be with Brooke. Not in the way that Danny might be again with Rachel. They’re partners on the job, they’re friends outside of work. They share life’s ups and downs, and occasionally a bottle of good liquor. But they’re not in the kind of relationship that is vulnerable to a break up, not the way most people understand it.

“It was a bad joke,” Steve says weakly. “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah,” says Danny, looking away from Steve and out over the water. “Me too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 10.02 didn't give us much to work with - hope you enjoyed this!
> 
> Note that I avoid spoilers (even the trailer for the next week's ep) so please don't mention anything about what's coming up. Other than that, I'd really love to hear from you!


	3. 10.03

Danny knows, intellectually, that jealousy is a bad thing. He remembers how Rachel’s jealousy of his old partner wore away at the fabric of their marriage, and made Danny feel like Rachel didn’t trust him. A few years ago Danny had a bout of jealousy when Lou joined Five-0 and Steve partnered with him for a while, but it calmed down when Will and Grace started dating – there was nothing like endless debates over whose turn it was to drive Grace and Will to the movies or what was a reasonable time of night to demand they stop texting to humanize a guy.

Quinn is different. She’s a badass cop with McGarrett-level chutzpah, she’s beautiful and funny and fearless, and she looks alarmingly like Catherine – who, for reasons that still keep Danny up at night – was the love of Steve’s life. And now she’s on the team.

Thing is, Danny knows he needs to get over it. Because jealously is poison. Being jealous of Steve’s time with Quinn says more about Danny than it does about either of them. He doesn’t like it, but he’s suffered through enough sessions with therapists to recognize insecurity when it thumps him on the nose.

It’s not Quinn’s fault, precisely, that she’s come into Steve’s world. Danny’s just used to being Steve’s MVP. He can’t help being a little perturbed that Steve’s attention is drawn to this rather sexy shiny new toy. 

(“Squirrel,” he whispered to Tani yesterday when Quinn came into the office and Steve immediately perked up. Tani choked on her coffee.)

People do stupid things when they’re jealous. Danny knows this from experience. He’s made sure to be just as friendly to Quinn as he would to anyone else new to the group, he’s even mostly genuine about it. She’s pretty easy to get along with, her confidence even more compelling than her looks. Maybe Danny has a type, too.

He also tries not to overreact to Steve’s stories about Quinn, that she speaks Kurdish like some kind of super-spy, that she’s crazy good in the field. Danny’s good in the field, too. He’s had Steve’s back for almost a decade, and the goof is still alive, so that has to mean something.

Danny wants to follow Steve home, to pick him up for work every day, to stick to his side all day long. To keep him from finding out more irresistible facts about Quinn. But that’s as unrealistic as it is unhealthy. The team doesn’t work that way, not anymore. They switch up partners as their cases demand, they rotate days off. Danny’s not entitled to Steve’s unwavering attention. 

Quinn even likes the way Steve drives.

Danny’s fucked.

Danny takes Junior to the range one day after work. Tani raises an eyebrow as they leave the office, but she doesn’t ask to come along. Junior is perhaps the easiest member of the team to be with these days, when it comes to just needing to let off some steam and not talking about anything except the job. Lou has other things on his mind (and worrying about kids away at school is not going to help Danny’s state of mind right now), and Tani, well, Tani knows him too well. 

Shooting at things that aren’t shooting back helps a little. He absolutely does not imagine that Quinn is the target, that would be deranged and terrible and way beyond the pale. But he does imagine himself heroically taking out the big bad, solving the case, and rescuing Steve just in the nick of time. Maybe getting one of those wide-eyed looks, and a breathless “thanks, Danno” as a grateful Steve clings to Danny for a long moment before Danny wraps an arm around his waist and hauls him to safety. 

Junior strokes Danny’s ego a bit as they shoot, and they grab a beer afterwards. It’s bittersweet, these moments when it becomes clear that Danny is playing the role of mentor, edging closer to retirement every day. He and Steve haven’t broached that subject lately, not since they got out of the restaurant business. 

As Danny’s dropping Junior off at Tani’s afterwards, Junior thanks him and then pauses, a hand reaching out to pat Danny awkwardly on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry, man,” Junior says. “Steve might be dating Brooke, but you guys will always be mom and dad to us.”

_Brooke,_ Danny thinks, practically banging his head against the steering wheel as Junior walks away. Is that who Junior thinks he’s upset about? Not that he isn’t still a little annoyed about Brooke, but it’s one thing for Steve to be dating – that’s expected, it’s normal. It might bother Danny deep down where he shuts away thoughts that he doesn’t let himself think, but as long as Steve isn’t prattling on about breaking up with him, he can handle Steve dating. That was last week’s crisis.

No, Quinn is his current problem, and a whole different ballgame than Brooke. Quinn is in Danny’s territory, every day, a part of the team. There’s no escaping her. Brooke may have been taking Danny’s place in his imaginary platonic marriage with Steve, but Quinn threatens his actual place in Steve’s life. 

Is Danny scared that Quinn could replace him completely in Steve’s life? He tells himself it’s dumb to feel that way. He and Steve are ‘ohana. Steve knows Danny better than almost anyone ever has, and Danny’s pretty sure it goes both ways. They’ve been through years and years of unbelievable shit together, put their lives on the line for each other. Steve _loves_ Danny, in his own protective way. But damn it to hell, Danny’s still scared.

Danny gets home and pours himself another beer. He’s a pathetic mess. It’s his lot in life to be afraid all the time, sure, he’s used to it. But all this seems like too much right now. Quinn’s hitting him right where it hurts, and she hasn’t even thrown a punch.

Suddenly there’s a knock at his door, and Danny startles. He gives himself a quick once-over – he’s still in his work slacks and button-down, no tell-tale beer stains on his shirt – and answers the door.

“I’ve been texting you forever, why didn’t you answer?” Steve barrels inside, plops himself on the couch and makes himself comfortable. “Thought you were coming to my house to watch the game.”

Danny pulls out his phone and confirms, yeah, there are three texts from Steve. Apparently Danny missed them, too busy stuck in his own pity party. “Sorry, I lost track of time.”

Steve stretches out his legs and crosses his ankles on the coffee table. “Wanna order pizza? I’m starving.”

Danny sits down next to Steve and sends in their usual order. Steve has brought some chips, and he’s eating them messily, offering the bag to Danny every few minutes, whining about the fact that Danny’s refrigerator doesn’t keep beer as cold as he likes it. 

After they eat, Steve gets up to toss the pizza box in the trash, and returns to the couch with more beer. He flops himself down lengthwise and sticks his feet in Danny’s lap. Danny pretends to be appalled at how stinky they are (they’re not particularly, but they are feet, so they don’t smell like roses either), and pokes at his ticklish spots until Steve moves. 

A minute later Steve’s sitting up, crowding into Danny’s space to show him the latest picture Grace sent him, and that launches them into a familiar conversation about who Grace likes best. Steve finally settles, shoulder leaning against Danny’s, feet crossed next to his on the coffee table.

It’s all completely, wonderfully normal. 

Maybe Danny doesn’t have as much to worry about as he feared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, 10.03 didn't give us much to work with mcdanno-wise. Hope you like this chapter! (Can you guess my favorite line?)


	4. 10.04

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little hurt/comfort...

They stay at the bar at the Hilton longer than they should, but it feels good to relax after the stress of the day. Steve loves having his team together like this, everyone safe and in the same place. Danny’s at his side, smiling and laughing, and all is right with the world.

Steve doesn’t pretend that Danny’s playful mood doesn’t affect him, and the rest of the team is well aware. Every glance over to the two of them from Lou or Tani results in a knowing smile, and it’s a feedback loop of fond approval that just keeps getting better. 

Steve vows to keep doing this, gathering his ohana around him, as often as he can. He’s not a fatalistic guy, but still, he needs to make sure to appreciate what he has. Because it’s pretty damn good.

Finally Lou announces that he needs to get home to Renee, and Adam heads out with him. Quinn looks undecided, but Tani’s ears suddenly perk up when a new band plays their opening riff on the other side of the bar, and she convinces Junior and Quinn to go check it out with her.

“She loves to dance,” Junior says in explanation to Quinn, setting his hand on the small of Tani’s back so quickly that if you blinked, you would miss it. 

“Sounds like fun,” Quinn responds easily. “You guys coming too?”

Steve answers for them both. “Nah, we’re good.” 

Danny shoots an approving nod at Steve. Danny may have spent the day teasing Steve about dating, but he’s right on board with the more important things in life – like chilling out right here while the kids go play.

Steve’s still not sure why Danny is so fixated on finding him a date. At one point during the day Steve had turned the conversation back on Danny, trying to find out whether he’s dating Rachel, but Danny just brushed him off and went right back to trying to set Steve up. It’s a little weird.

A waiter stops by to see if they want more beer, and Steve orders them each a whiskey instead. 

“Now you’re talking,” Danny says, giving him a goofy grin. They sit companionably for a while, people watching. Danny has his legs kicked out in front of him, and his chair has migrated closer to Steve’s, so they’re both looking out over the patio. It’s like when they sit on Steve’s beach, except with Bob Marley playing in the background, and considerably more tourists.

Danny’s elbow bumps Steve’s arm every once in a while, even more so when their drinks arrive.

“You did good today,” Steve says, as they clink their glasses together. “The whole team did.”

Danny takes a long sip. Steve watches as he licks his lips afterwards, tongue quickly flickering out and back again. There’s a slight flush to Danny’s cheeks, the way he gets when he’s had just enough alcohol to loosen the tension that seems to be as much a part of Danny as his ridiculous haircuts.

“Yeah, we did okay. Wish we didn’t have to go running to Wright, though. He’s an ass.”

Steve snorts. “Can’t say I disagree.” 

“Definitely makes you miss Jerry,” Danny says. “Not that that’s the only reason.”

“Of course not.” Steve finishes his whiskey and considers ordering another. Danny’s almost done with his as well, so when the attentive waiter inquires, Steve nods. 

Danny grins at him. “That kind of night, huh?”

“What?”

“Hope you brought your wallet.”

“Ha ha, hasn’t that joke gotten old already?” 

“It’ll never get old, buddy, not until you start paying your way.”

“Hey, I paid for our drinks last time we got the team together,” Steve protests.

“You brought one lonely six-pack of beer, and then sent Junior out for more. I don’t think that counts.”

They launch into an accounting of all the ways Steve has annoyed Danny by not, in Danny’s words, being a gentleman when it comes to money, when Quinn shows up, hair tousled and eyes bright.

“Forgot my phone,” she says, finding it under a napkin on the table. “Thought I’d take some pictures. Junior’s got some interesting moves.” She grins at them. “Sure you guys don’t want to join us? The band is pretty good.”

“Nah, Danny’s a terrible dancer,” Steve says, fighting down a smile.

“I am _not_ \- why would you say that? Why? You’re a terrible person-” They don’t really notice Quinn leaving.

Their friendly bickering dies down, and Danny stretches back in his chair, closing his eyes. Steve finds himself admiring the way Danny’s lashes fall over his cheeks, and mentally gives himself a strong kick in the behind. He has got to stop looking at his partner this way.

As if Steve had spoken the words out loud, Danny’s eyes blink open to find Steve staring at him. “What?” Danny asks lazily, letting his head fall to the side as he turns to Steve.

Desperate to avoid actually saying what’s on his mind, Steve reverts back to their earlier conversation. “The team did good today.”

Danny frowns. “Yeah, you said that already. Team did good.”

“I mean, everyone worked well together, especially given that it was Quinn’s first day,” Steve says, searching for a way to defend his otherwise completely repetitive statement. “Could’ve been rough for her. Yumi being a spy was definitely a surprise, right? But Quinn rose to the occasion, don’t you think?”

Danny’s looking at him with a decidedly less relaxed expression than he’s been sporting for the past little while, and Steve prepares himself for the inevitable Danny rant that seems to be coming. But then something passes over Danny’s face and he seems to resign himself, leaning back in his chair again.

“Sure, she did. So long as Quinn’s the only thing rising.” Danny adds a little sneer to this, an attempt at innuendo that catches Steve by surprise.

“What?”

“You heard me.”

“Danny – that was – that was- did you?” Steve sputters. Did Danny just make a reference to his… private parts?

Danny grins at his discomfort. “Sorry. Too far?”

“Yes,” Steve says firmly. “You’re way, way off base.”

“I just know you tend to get, shall we say…” Danny waves his hands in the general direction of Steve’s body, including his lower half, “excited… by shows of competence on the part of the female members of our team. Especially when accompanied by crazy jujitsu fighting.”

Steve can feel the heat rising in his cheeks. “Okay, first of all, it’s not as if I even saw Quinn and Tani fighting today. Second, I do not” he waves his hands back at Danny “I do _not get aroused_ by female members of the team doing their jobs, if that’s what you are implying-”

“Aroused? That’s a good word for it, sorry I didn’t think of that one,” Danny says, his eyes flashing with amusement. “And I beg to differ. You love it when a woman goes all bad-ass on the bad guys.”

“It’s not like that – Danny!” To be fair, Steve is aware that he has somewhat of a competence kink, but it’s not limited to the female members of the team. And he is far too professional to let it distract him at work. Usually.

“I said I was sorry,” Danny says, laughing outright now.

Steve doesn’t know why he lets Danny rile him up. Okay, he does kind of know, it’s as much fun as anything else they do together. But he got sucked into this one far too easily. “You are clearly not sorry,” he retorts.

“Eh, maybe not.” Danny snorts and laughs at the same time. It shouldn’t be as attractive as it is. “But I see you watching our newest member-” Danny breaks off, eyebrows flying up as he realizes the missed possibility of making something out of the word “member.”

Steve’s eyebrows fly up. “What is this, middle school? I promise you, I am not thinking about sex when I’m working with Quinn.” At least that’s true. He’s been too focused on assessing her skills and how she fits in with the team to even consider such a thing.

Danny just starts laughing even more, enjoying the shit out of Steve’s protests. “Glad to hear it, babe, really, nice of you to be so specific. You’re a crazy man, I don’t know why I put up with you, I can’t believe those words even came out of your mouth, but I am definitely glad to hear it-”

Steve sees it happening, knows what’s going to happen before it does, but even his reflexes aren’t enough to stop it. Danny’s tilting his chair back and waving his arms as he rants at Steve, and he pushes with a foot on an empty chair just to get a little more action in his tilt, when one of the chair legs gives out and the whole thing goes crashing backwards, taking Danny with it.

Steve lunges to catch Danny, but he can’t get there in time. He sees the chair slam down on the stone paving, and flinches as Danny’s head hits the ground with a thud.

In seconds Steve is on his knees next to Danny, hands on his head. Danny’s eyes are squeezed shut, and he’s not moving, and for a long second Steve’s heart freezes in his chest. But then Danny groans and tries to sit up. Steve grabs his shoulders, his body pressed close.

“Hey, hey, don’t move for a sec, okay?” Steve runs his fingers around Danny’s head, checking for blood.

“Ow ow ow, fuck, stop,” Danny scrabbles at Steve’s hands, but Steve just shifts and holds him steady.

“Lemme check you out, hold still.”

“Fucking hurts,” Danny says, squirming. Steve satisfies himself that Danny’s head still seems to be in one piece, and helps him detangle himself from the chair and sit more comfortably on the ground.

“Danny, open your eyes,” Steve says, one hand on Danny’s shoulder to support him, the other cupping his face. “You with me?”

Danny squints at him, blue eyes meeting his. “Where else would I be?”

“Good, good.”

There’s a small crowd gathering, and miraculously Tani is there with a bag of ice wrapped in a napkin, and Junior is herding people away from the scene. There’s a manager from the Hilton, too, looking considerably worried.

Steve holds the ice to the back of Danny’s head, and Danny curses. 

“Quite a mouth on you tonight,” Steve says softly. 

Danny’s leaning against him, and he half-heartedly pokes Steve with a finger. “Shut up. Ow.”

Tani crouches down next to them. “You okay, Danny? Manager says this has never happened before, apologized all over the place. Even said he’d cover our tab.”

Danny laughs into Steve’s shoulder, and then groans.

“What?”

“Figures Steve would get away with not paying again.”

Steve lets out a long breath. If Danny’s ribbing him, he’s not dying, at least probably not. They sit there for a few minutes more, the ice melting and dripping down into Danny’s collar. Finally Danny fidgets sufficiently and it’s time to move.

“Come on, let’s get you up.” Steve ducks under Danny’s arm and wraps himself around Danny’s waist, helping him stagger to his feet. 

“Ow, fuck,” Danny says eloquently, closing his eyes again. Steve just holds them in place for a minute, letting Danny get his bearings.

Quinn appears next to them, head turning in all directions, eyes alert as she tries to catch up. She was getting drinks when Danny fell. “What happened?”

Danny sighs and straightens, stepping away from Steve. “Nothing, relax, it’s fine,” Danny says.

Maybe, but Steve would still rather keep holding on to Danny. Steve doesn’t think he’s particularly steady. And, you know, he’s nice to hold onto.

“Danny just smacked the ground with his head,” Tani says lightly. “Didn’t like the way it was looking at him.”

Quinn doesn’t seem convinced.

“No, really, we’re okay,” Steve says, hardly noticing that he included himself in with Danny. “You guys go back and have fun, I think we’re going to head home.”

Tani fusses over Danny a little more, whispering something in his ear that makes him huff out a pained laugh, and herds Junior and Quinn away. Steve blows out a breath, and turns to Danny, who suddenly looks even less steady than he did a moment ago.

Steve’s suspicion is confirmed when Danny ducks his head and groans again, hands coming up to cover his eyes. Danny didn’t want the new girl to see him hurting. Steve gets it. This getting old thing sucks.

“Come on, buddy, let’s go,” Steve says, wrapping an arm around Danny’s waist. 

Danny sags against him. “Feels like my head’s gonna explode.”

“I know.”

They make their way slowly out through the maze that is the Hilton. It’s busy even at this time of night, and Steve steers Danny as gently as he can past groups of partying guests. He wonders if they should have walked along the dark beach instead, but then Danny would just complain about getting sand in his shoes.

Finally they make it to the street, and Steve quickly helps Danny into a waiting cab. Steve’s had a little too much to drink to think about driving, even though Danny’s fall has done a lot to sober him up. But in any case, he’d rather be able to give Danny his full attention.

Steve waits until they are settled inside the cab to say what needs to be said. “Maybe we should stop by the hospital, get you checked out.”

Danny moans again, but this time it isn’t because of his headache. “You incredible hypocrite. You would never go to the hospital for this.”

Danny’s right, of course, but Steve won’t admit it. “You hit your head really hard, Danny, and you weren’t braced for it at all.”

“We get our heads knocked around every day, Steve. I’m fine. I didn’t lose consciousness.”

And thank god for that, Steve thinks. He shifts Danny around and looks in his eyes again, just as he did right after the accident. Danny was tracking then, and he is now, no signs of serious head injury. “Any nausea? Ringing in your ears?”

“No, Steve. No. Drop it.”

I will for now, Steve thinks. But he’s keeping an eye on Danny tonight.

This becomes clear to Danny when they arrive at his house and Steve gets out too. It’s not the first time they’ve looked after each other after a grueling day at work. Danny doesn’t even protest.

Steve takes off his shoes and locks the door behind them, then does a quick check of the house, making sure everything is closed up. He finds Danny in the kitchen, looking a little green as he drinks down a glass of water. Danny rolls his eyes when Steve follows him up the stairs. Steve resists the urge to swat Danny on his perky ass – now is _not_ the time – but his disobedient brain enjoys the sight anyway.

Steve uses the spare bathroom and gives Danny a minute to get changed. When he pokes his head into Danny’s bedroom, though, Danny is still mostly dressed, shoes in a tumble in the corner of the room and shirt untucked. He’s leaning against his dresser with his head hanging down.

Steve gently moves him towards the bed, and Danny sits with a wince. “I know you just want to sleep,” Steve says softly. “But you’ll rest better if you take these off.” He starts in on the buttons on Danny’s shirt, and it’s a sign of just how out of it Danny is that he lets Steve continue.

Danny rouses a little once his shirt comes off, taking over to undo his belt and shed his pants and socks. He climbs into bed in his boxers, waving a hand in Steve’s general direction. “Turn off the light already.”

Steve does, and then strips down to his underwear. He scrounges in Danny’s drawers until he finds the spare pair of sweatpants he leaves here, and then climbs into the bed behind Danny.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Danny mutters, face pressed into the pillow.

Steve makes himself comfortable, lying on his side. He’s staring right at the back of Danny’s head. If there were more light in the room, he could watch to see whether he’s got a bump there.

“Steven. Go ‘way.”

“Nope.” Steve pulls at the blankets until they are both covered up to their chins. It may be Hawaii, but it still gets cold at night. “You’re potentially concussed. If you won’t go to the hospital, I’m keeping a close eye on you.”

“How’re you gonna do that when you’re asleep, huh?”

“I’ll figure it out. Get some rest.” Steve has already set an alarm on his phone to go off every two hours. It’s switched to vibrate, so it won’t startle Danny. Steve isn’t leaving anything to chance.

“I think you’re an idiot but I’m too tired to argue.”

Steve huffs out a laugh. This is such familiar territory, it should have their names on it. “You must be really tired.”

Danny sighs out a long breath.

“You okay, Danno?”

“Yeah.” Danny shuffles his legs around, winding up a little closer to Steve. “You’re nice and warm. ‘S good.”

“Happy to be of service. Now go to sleep.”

Steve can’t help but get a little fixated on Danny’s breathing, watching his shoulder gently move as he inhales and exhales. He knows that Danny is probably right – he’s not injured any more than they usually are from a day like today – but that isn’t making him feel much better. It would be just their luck to survive countless gunfights and then get taken down by something as commonplace as a broken chair.

When Steve feels his own eyes start to droop, he decides it’s safe to sleep for a little while. He lifts up on an elbow, scanning Danny’s face in the dim light for any sign of distress.

“I’m really glad you’re okay,” Steve whispers, and presses a kiss to Danny’s cheek.


	5. 10.05

_You’re taking Charlie trick-or-treating near your house tonight, right?_

Danny tugs his phone out of his pocket, squints at the text, and writes back.

_Yeah, my neighborhood has the best decorations. And Ms. Tanaka on the corner gives out whole candy bars. Why?_

Danny pokes his head into Charlie’s bedroom to check on his son’s progress while he waits for Steve to respond. Charlie is still deciding between the Superman costume that Rachel bought for him, and a vampire ghost contraption that he insisted on creating with an old sheet and magic markers about twenty minutes ago.

_Probably nothing. But we caught a case with a guy who broke out of a basement cell. Potentially dangerous and unstable. Nowhere near your place, though._

_Sure, I buy that._

_No, really. Ask Max if you want._

“Danno, I’m ready now!” Charlie announces. Danny assures him that the blood drops and fangs drawn on the sheet draped over his head look extremely scary, and they head outside, plastic pumpkin in hand.

Danny can catch up with Steve later. He’s not falling for his escaped basement monster joke. For now he’s going to ignore Steve, and focus on Charlie.

That’s been his approach all week, ever since Steve kissed him.

Not just with Charlie, of course. Danny has, in no particular order, focused on (1) badgering Tani about her mermaid costume; (2) taking Quinn out to lunch to try to get himself to stop thinking of her as the enemy; (3) hassling Grace about midterms that she should be paying more attention to; (4) making sure that if he was paired up with Steve on a case they had another member of the team with them; and (5) also Charlie, who had a very important Lego club meeting on Wednesday after school. 

All of this was designed to help him put things in perspective. That perspective being that whatever Steve was up to last week after Danny hit his head was just about being a good friend and partner – work partner – not anything else.

Danny’s not sure it’s working.

That night last week, feeling Steve press a kiss to his cheek, Danny had felt something blossom in his chest that was far, far too dangerous to think about. He can’t go down this road, not now, and really, not ever. Not unless he wants to risk what he has with Steve.

_But what if…?_ his treacherous brain keeps asking. What if it wouldn’t ruin what he has with Steve? What if this is something Steve wants?

Steve had clearly thought Danny was asleep. Does it mean that Steve has romantic feelings for him, but doesn’t want Danny to know? Or does it mean there’s nothing to know?

Danny wishes he had been brave enough to tilt his head, to catch Steve’s warm lips with his own. To see if Steve would have continued the kiss, lean close with just the right amount of pressure. Slowly open up for Danny, letting him in, trading soft kisses and flickers of tongue until their hands started to wander, bodies pressed close…

Danny closes down this train of thought abruptly. Unfortunately it’s a train that keeps coming around, like it’s circling a Christmas tree, insisting on chugging itself into Danny’s mind over and over and over. But he cannot be having these thoughts about Steve. His best friend. His _male_ best friend, who has shown no interest whatsoever in any male partners for the ten years Danny has known him (except you, a voice in his head whispers… maybe he’s shown an interest in _you_).

The whole situation makes him dizzy, and not just from the blood rushing to his nether regions. So Danny tries as hard as he can to focus on non-Steve things. End of story.

It should be easy enough not to think about his partner tonight, since he’s keeping busy trick-or-treating with Charlie. Except nothing about Steve is ever easy.

His phone vibrates again, twice in a row, and Danny sighs. It’s not as if he can ignore Steve’s texts for very long. Steve is his boss, after all (and right there, right there, is another reason nothing can happen between them. As if Steve had any respect for the rules, which he doesn’t, but Danny does. Usually.)

_Can you believe Max is visiting with his son? Wanna talk to him?_

_Danny, you there?_

Danny gives up and calls Steve, trailing behind Charlie as they walk to another house, this one with cute little pumpkins on stakes lighting their driveway.

“What is it? I’m out with Charlie, can it wait?”

“Hey, you didn’t tell me you were going as Oscar the Grouch. Thought Charlie was too old for Sesame Street?”

“Ha ha, very funny.”

“I thought so.” Steve’s voice turns serious. “But really, there is a very angry guy roaming the streets tonight. Worse than you before your coffee.”

Danny pauses, putting a hand on Charlie’s shoulder and looking around for anything out of the ordinary. He doesn’t see any costumed kids older than about middle school age, and the parents tagging along don’t look like they’re hyped up on anything but sugar.

“It’s quiet here. Not even any obnoxious teenagers.”

“Okay, just keep an eye out and let me know if you see anything out of the ordinary.”

It’s a funny thing to say on Halloween, but Danny gets it. The case may be bothering Steve more than he’s letting on. “You need me to come in? I can drop Charlie at Rachel’s-”

“No, Danno,” Charlie whines, appearing in front of him with a pleading look on his face. “Stay with me, you promised.”

“You’re fine, Danny. Everyone else is here. Have fun with Charlie.”

They hang up, although Danny feels a little pang. _Everyone else is here._ Even Max. At least Quinn isn’t wearing some kind of sexy soldier costume tonight, if she sticks with what she bought while she and Danny were having lunch earlier in the week. Although Steve will probably appreciate the Top Gun outfit just as much.

Danny sighs and trots to catch up to Charlie. They hit a few more houses, but before long, Charlie is flagging. He looks up at Danny with bright eyes, and Danny crouches down next to him.

“I don’t feel so good, Danno.”

Danny feels his son’s forehead. It’s a little warm, and Charlie’s eyes are bright. “It’s time to head home anyway, bud. You already got more candy than I ever did.” He takes Charlie’s plastic pumpkin from him and nods appreciatively. “Tons more.”

“More than Grace ever got?”

Danny grins, and slings an arm around Charlie’s thin shoulders. “Definitely more than Grace.”

Back at home Danny takes Charlie’s temperature. He’s barely got a fever, but he’s thoroughly wiped out from all the excitement. He doesn’t even protest when Danny gives him some Tylenol and puts him to bed.

It’s only afterwards, sitting on his couch checking over Charlie’s candy, that Danny remembers Kamekona’s party. He had planned to head over there with Charlie for a little while after trick-or-treating. He sends Kame a quick text with his apologies. Just something else he’s missing tonight.

Danny helps himself to a mini-Snickers and clicks on the television. He tells himself that the team probably isn’t going to make it back to the party either, not with the cases that sprung up tonight. Maybe he and Steve can stop by later in the week to meet Flippa’s mom while she’s visiting.

Danny channel surfs idly, getting up to hand out candy every time the doorbell rings. The pace of trick-or-treaters eventually slows, and Danny gets sucked into a show about a werewolf, a vampire, and a ghost who are roommates. It reminds him of the basement escapee Steve warned him about, and he takes a minute to do another check on his windows and doors. Even though Tani texted him that the guy was found, you can never be too safe.

He’s on his way back to the couch when the doorbell rings again. It’s Steve, wearing a creepy mask and making a hooting noise that is probably supposed to be scary.

“Come on in, you dope.”

“How’d you know it was me?”

Danny doesn’t dignify this with an answer. “Want some candy?” He holds out the plastic pumpkin to Steve, who takes it on his way to the couch.

“Thanks. Got any more beer?”

Danny retrieves two cold beers from the kitchen and joins Steve, who is methodically picking through Charlie’s take and setting aside all of the Butterfingers. Steve knows Charlie doesn’t like them. The two of them had debated the merits of various candy bars a few weeks ago when Steve got him going by suggesting to Charlie that he hand out bags of pretzels instead of candy. Charlie was not in favor.

“Why aren’t you at Kamekona’s?” Danny finally asks, when they are settled in front of the television, the next episode of the ridiculous roommates show starting up.

Steve barely finishes chewing his latest Butterfinger and frowns at Danny. “I heard Charlie was sick. Figured I’d better keep you company.”

“That was very thoughtful of you,” Danny says, as Steve returns his gaze to the television. 

“Besides, just because our guy didn’t turn out to be a monster, it is Halloween,” Steve says. “You never know what might happen.”

Danny swallows hard, and tries not to read anything into Steve’s comment. Charlie is sleeping in the next room, after all. And Halloween isn’t exactly a romantic holiday.

But then Steve stretches and slings his arm over the back of the couch, practically around Danny’s shoulders, and slides a little closer to him. Danny smiles and leans into Steve’s warmth. He almost forgot Steve’s love for scary date movies. Maybe something is happening tonight after all.


	6. 10.06

“You’ve got to admit it, Danno, you can’t get this with an app.” Steve is standing and stretching, looking out over the rocky landscape to the shining blue ocean. 

Danny shakes his head at Steve and pulls out his water bottle to take a long swig. Steve had suggested the hike last night (“we’ve both got the day off – let’s go do something fun”) and Danny had quickly agreed.

The hike out to Ka’ena Point is long and hot, with absolutely no shade, but it’s ridiculously beautiful. There’s something very satisfying about making it all the way out to Oahu’s westernmost tip of land. It’s remote and wild and the only way to get there is to hike in (unless you somehow score a vehicle permit, which Steve just scoffs at, noting the danger to the degrading sand dune habitat).

When they set off early this morning Danny had thought that they had scored a perfect day for the trek, and for the most part they did, although it’s not as cool as he had hoped it would be. He did wear a hat, of course - no one on the island hikes Ka’ena without a hat – but it’s just a ball cap, not the floppy more protective get-up that Steve has on. The skin on the exposed back of his neck is definitely regretting his choices.

Steve watches judgmentally as Danny pulls out a tube of sunscreen, but doesn’t say anything, at least not right away. Danny makes a show of lotioning up his arms first, as if he was just being extra cautious, but they’ve only been hiking for about forty-five minutes so it’s overkill even for his sensitive skin.

“Come on, let me help,” Steve finally says, taking the sunscreen out of Danny’s hand. “We’ll be here all day otherwise.”

Steve zeros in on Danny’s neck immediately, smoothing in a generous amount of lotion with a surprisingly gentle touch. Steve’s fingers are cool from his own water bottle, and Danny can’t help but shiver at little at the sensation.

“You like that, huh?” Steve says softly into Danny’s ear, and splays his cool hand out over the back of Danny’s neck.

It’s oddly intimate, standing together in the bright sunlight on a quiet, dusty trail, nothing to see but sand dunes and rocky lava stretching out to the ocean.

“Yeah,” Danny says softly, not wanting to break the spell. “Feels good.”

Steve leaves his hand there for another beat, until it’s no longer as shockingly icy, and then removes it slowly. He slathers more lotion on Danny’s neck, then comes around to stand in front of Danny and, smirking, reaches out and quickly dabs a bit on Danny’s nose.

“Hey,” Danny steps back, surprised. 

Steve just grins. “What? I’m just helping out.”

Danny can’t come up with a comeback that properly expresses “we were having a moment and then you acted like a child and confused me” so he just shoots a glare at Steve and continues walking along the trail.

“You don’t want to show up at work with a sunburn,” Steve says, jogging to catch up with him. “People might think you had done something social on your day off.”

“Are you ever going to let that go? You can’t tell me you don’t appreciate being able to have any food you like delivered to your door.”

“Yeah, but it’s not because I’m trying to avoid talking to people. It’s just convenient.”

“Convenient? Sure, that’s part of it. But you like taking a break from all the demands, too. From all the people who are always asking you for stuff.”

“People aren’t always asking me for stuff,” Steve says, but with less conviction.

“Are you kidding? Of course they are, all the time. Remember last Thursday, when six different people asked you for help with things entirely unrelated to Five-0 in the course of one day, and you complained through an entire six-pack?”

“That was different,” Steve says, and Danny glances at him. Steve’s got his “I’m thinking my way out of this” face on, and Danny takes a minute to enjoy it.

“How, precisely, was it different?”

“Just, unusual, is all. And if I can’t complain to you, who can I complain to?”

Danny nods. “Right. And that is exactly why an app is helpful. You weren’t fit to speak to anyone that night, excepting me, who has learned over the years how to handle a Steve McGarrett venting session.”

“Oh yeah? How do you handle it?”

Danny grins over his shoulder at Steve. “With a six-pack of beer, obviously.”

Steve huffs. “Obviously.”

They walk on in companionable silence, stopping every so often to look out over the water. Sometimes you can see dolphins and even whales, but they haven’t seen either yet today. Steve stops them at one point to look at what he thinks is a monk seal on the beach, but when they get closer they realize it was just a curvy rock.

When they make it out to the point they wander around, looking around the point to see the rugged Waianae side of the island. Danny uses his phone to take a few photos of the amazing view, and then they settle down for a snack. Steve pulls a bag out of his pack and hands an apple to Danny.

“Thanks.”

There are more people on the trail now, and a few groups already at the point, reading the state park signs with information about the nesting seabirds and looking at the remains of the old lighthouse. Two women with long dark hair and sturdy hiking boots walk past them, the taller one waving to Steve and Danny as they go by.

“You know them?” Danny asks. 

“No. And don’t try to set me up.” Steve says firmly.

“Wow, okay, I wasn’t going to go there, but sure.” Danny watches as the two women pause, one pointing out something to the other. “Just thought they looked familiar.”

Steve looks at them and shrugs. “Reminds me of Tani and Quinn, maybe.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Danny thinks of the Tani and Quinn lookalikes the idiot you-tubers substituted for the real thing in their HPD recruitment video. Tani had taken the news with remarkable calm. “The two of them make a good team.”

Steve turns to Danny, looking pleased. “You think so? I thought they might. I hoped they would, anyway.”

“Yeah, they do.”

“It frees Junior up for other things, you know, not always being paired with Tani.”

“Junior’s good with Adam, it’s true.” Danny wonders whether to mention the other thing Junior’s been good for lately, but Steve beats him to it.

“I like having him along with us sometimes,” Steve says quietly.

“Junior’s fast,” Danny says. “And he seems to have learned how to take down a perp from the McGarrett school of leap before you look.”

“Oh, he’s looking,” Steve says. “Did you see him vault that chain-link fence and sideswipe the drug dealer last week? He knows what he’s doing.”

Danny nods. “He does. And he’s good at it.” He breathes out slowly, focusing on the glittering ocean in front of them. “Takes a little bit of the pressure off of you.”

He can feel Steve’s hesitance to respond, but the bubble they’ve been in all morning wins out. 

“Yeah,” Steve says. “It really does.” Steve takes off his sunglasses and wipes them on his pants, looking a little glum.

“Come on, you’re not that old yet,” Danny says, bumping his shoulder against Steve’s. “Still got a few heroic take-downs left in you.”

“Gray hair says otherwise,” Steve responds, rubbing at his scruff.

“Lemme see,” Danny says, leaning in. It’s not as if he hasn’t noticed before, but it seems to make Steve relax to stick his chin out and let Danny commiserate. “Yeah, definitely some grays.”

“Not you, though,” Steve says, peering at Danny’s face and then looking up at him. “Why don’t you have any gray hair? You worry enough, you should have a head full of it.”

Danny shrugs. “Maybe I do, it’s just not as noticeable, you know, my hair’s lighter.”

Steve squints and takes Danny’s chin in his hand, thumb and forefinger squeezing. “I think you’d notice.”

Danny lets his eyes fall shut as Steve tilts his face one way and then another. “I shave closer than you. Every day. So I can’t tell.”

“On purpose?” Steve asks, his breath puffing against Danny’s cheek. “I mean, do you shave every day so you don’t have to see if there’s gray in there?”

“No, of course not,” Danny responds, but when he opens his eyes Steve is looking right at him, and he gets the feeling he doesn’t buy it.

“Why don’t you let it grow out a few days, let me see what’s there,” Steve says, rubbing his thumb along Danny’s jawline.

Danny suddenly feels warm, and it’s not from the lack of shade. Steve isn’t showing any signs of moving away from him, and he’s been stroking Danny’s chin for far longer than can be explained away by their somewhat contrived conversation about scruff.

“Steve?” he asks. “Do you, um, do you ever think about…?”

“Yes, Danny?” Steve’s voice is low, and Danny sees Steve’s eyes flicker down to his lips and back up again. _He’s going to kiss me,_ Danny thinks. _Or I’m going to kiss him._ He closes his eyes, his breath stuttering in his chest, and gets ready to leap.

“Hey, sorry to bother you guys.” a voice shatters the moment, and Steve’s hand drops from Danny’s face as they turn to see the dark-haired girl who had waved to them earlier.

“No, no problem, what’s up?” Steve asks, while Danny blinks hard and wills his heart to stop pounding.

“My friend scraped her knee up pretty bad, just wondering if you had a first aid kit or anything.”

“Absolutely.” Steve grabs his pack (which of course contains a comprehensively equipped first aid kit) and trots over to where the other woman is sitting, leaving Danny to stare after him. He can’t believe the moment is over. It doesn’t seem remotely fair. He can still feel Steve’s hand on his face, feel his breath on his skin.

Danny stands up and gathers their things, cursing inwardly at all the people that hone in on Steve’s relentless capacity to help, even when he isn’t wearing a badge. But despite his annoyance, he knows something special just happened. The memory of sitting in the blazing sun with Steve, gazing into each other’s eyes like teenagers, isn’t one he’s going to forget anytime soon.


	7. 10.07

Steve’s been in the bathroom for ten minutes, which is about five minutes longer than he usually takes. Danny finished his text to the team (essentially "made it to D.C., with Steve now") and is considering turning on the television and looking for something to watch when he hears Steve curse loudly.

“You okay in there?”

Steve grunts in response, which Danny, as an experienced cop, understands to mean “please come in.”

Steve is standing by the sink with a towel slung low around his hips. He’s all skin and bones, with new scrapes and bruises littered all over his torso. And there’s a knife in his hand.

“Steve, pal, what are you doing?” Danny asks, keeping his voice calm.

Steve turns to him, rolling his eyes. “Trying to get rid of this.” He waves at his beard with the knife.

The tension eases in Danny’s shoulders. Stupid, but not life-threatening. “You’re gonna slice your throat.”

“I’ll do my best to avoid that.” Steve turns back to the mirror and brings the knife up to his cheek, his left hand pulling the skin tight. Steve has taken his arm out of the sling, but he’s still favoring it, and Danny doesn’t like how this is going. Steve’s face is cut up enough already.

“How about you get some sleep, and wait until you have a set of clippers to take care of that thing?”

Steve scrapes off another bit of hair (and probably skin), ignoring Danny. Danny thinks of taking Steve’s chin in his hand, running his fingers over his scruff, back in the bright sunshine on Ka’ena Point. He can almost hear the sound of the waves. It seems like a million years ago.

“Let me run down to the drugstore and get a scissors, at least?”

Steve stops, letting his left arm sag down by his side. “Fuck it, shaving can wait.” 

“Good choice.”

Danny stays in the doorway as Steve puts the knife back in his kit bag, making Steve grumble as he has to squeeze past him to get out of the bathroom. Danny watches as Steve pulls back the drab hotel bedspread, then nonchalantly drops his towel on the floor and climbs into bed, stark naked.

“Seriously? Did wherever you got that ugly sweater not sell any underwear?”

Steve doesn’t respond, and Danny just shakes his head. Animal. He closes the door and goes about his business, then finds the toothpaste in Steve’s bag and rubs it over his teeth with his finger.

The couch is far too small for him, but at least there’s a spare blanket in the closet. Steve has turned off the lights, but the curtains don’t close properly and it’s far from dark. Danny strips down to his t-shirt and boxers and tries to get comfortable, lying on his side and drawing his knees practically to his chest.

After a few minutes he hears a snort, and looks over to see Steve propped up on an elbow, suppressing a laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“You really don’t fit on that couch.”

“No, Steven, I don’t.”

“Why don’t you pull it out, unfold it? It’s gotta be at least a twin.”

“I tried. It’s stuck.” Danny shifts and the throw pillow under his head falls onto the floor. Figures.

After a few minutes Steve speaks up again, but this time the humor is gone from his voice. “How many times have you come after me, Danny?”

“What?”

“How many times – how many times have I fucked something up, and you came to get me?” Steve’s voice is bitter.

“Okay, hang on-”

“I bet you know exactly how many. I bet you complained about it to the flight attendant.”

He does know, but he did not complain to the flight attendant or anyone else. He might have said something to Tani, but it was more along the lines of “thank god, I can finally go bring that idiot home.” 

Danny takes in a long breath and lets it out before responding. “You mad at me, pal?”

Steve makes an affronted noise, and Danny knows the answer is “yeah, a little.”

“Steve, you disappeared after your car blew up, and went radio silent for weeks. Sue me if I was worried.” Grace has been batshit over the whole thing too, even with the limited information Danny gave her, but Danny’s not going to bring that up. Steve doesn’t need any more guilt right now.

“I explained about that, I had to go dark.”

“I know.” Danny swallows and says the words. “But I still worried.” It’s the truth, hell, it hardly covers the truth. Danny feels like he’s been living the past two months teetering on the edge of losing his mind, telling himself all day long that Steve can take care of himself, and then spending every night having nightmares over what might be happening to him, if he was even alive.

“You didn’t want me to go in the first place.”

Danny bites his lip. Denying it won’t do any good. “No, I didn’t.”

“You didn’t think trying to save Doris’s life was worth it?”

It’s a low blow, but Danny isn’t going to be baited, not right now. “I was concerned about _your_ life. Someone should be.”

Steve goes quiet, and Danny wonders if he’s fallen asleep. He’s beginning to think that he’ll just crash on the floor, the couch is really not working for him.

“No one’s saying what they’re really thinking,” Steve says.

“What’s that, exactly?”

A long pause. “If I hadn’t gone down there, if I had just stayed out of it and minded my own business for once, Doris would still be alive.”

“You don’t know that.”

“No?”

“No, Steve, you don’t. Definitely not. The CIA, the state department, they were all convinced Doris was dirty. They would have found her if you didn’t, and they wouldn’t have asked her nicely to please move away from the scary drug dealers.”

“I did. I begged her to leave, Danny. I could have gotten her out.”

“I know.”

“She wouldn’t come with me.” Steve’s voice is wet, and it tugs at Danny’s heart.

“I know. You did everything you could. This isn’t on you, Steve.”

Steve’s next response is lost in the catch of his breath, and then he’s shaking and crying, hands over his face as he tries to muffle the noise.

Danny’s suddenly had quite enough of the couch.

“Hey, hey, come here.” Danny lays down next to Steve and takes him in his arms. Much to his surprise, Steve doesn’t protest, letting Danny put his arms around him and hold him close. He strokes Steve’s back over the tangled sheets, petting him like he does with Charlie after a bad dream. “You’re okay, babe, you are. It’s gonna be okay. We’re gonna go back to Hawaii, and you’re going to swim in the ocean, and cook us steaks on the grill. We’ll eat pineapple for days. The team will give you shit for your mountain-man beard, and Eddie will go nuts having you back. We’ll all be there for you. You’re gonna be okay.”

Steve digs his face into Danny’s shoulder. He doesn’t pull away even after he stops crying, one hand gripping Danny’s shirt, the other tucked underneath them somewhere. Danny doesn’t move either, except to keep stroking Steve’s back.

“I really missed you, Danny,” Steve finally says, his voice muffled. “Tried not to think about it too much. Stay on task. But I really missed you.”

“I missed you too.” Danny leans his face against Steve’s damp head and breathes him in, fresh and clean and safe. 

Steve’s hold on him slowly relaxes, the hand on his waist easing its grip, then opening and sliding under Danny’s t-shirt, pressing warm fingers against Danny’s bare skin. Steve shifts closer, his legs now touching Danny’s, a knee nudging at Danny’s thigh.

Danny shivers, and Steve makes a pleased sound, then presses a tentative kiss to the skin at the base of Danny’s throat.

“Oh,” Danny breathes out, unbelieving, as Steve kisses his neck again, and again, moving up to Danny’s jaw, and then hovering, lips warming the air over Danny’s mouth.

“Danny?”

“Yeah?” His voice sounds like it’s coming from someone else.

“Can I kiss you?”

Danny tilts his chin in response, his lips finding Steve’s. It’s barely a brush at first, hardly there, and then Steve lets out a moan and grabs Danny’s face with his hand, bringing him close and kissing him soundly. Before Danny knows it they’re pressed tight against each other, Steve’s naked body wrapping around him and sending him into sensory overload.

Danny pushes the sheet out of the way and lets his hand run down Steve’s heated skin, over his shoulders and down the muscles of his back. He’s about to go lower, dying to get a handful of Steve’s ass, when some forgotten ounce of common sense manages to leak its way into his brain.

“Steve?”

“Yeah?” Steve pushes Danny, his hands grabbing the hem of Danny’s t-shirt and dragging it up over his head.

“Steve, maybe-”

Steve is attacking Danny’s chest now, hands frantically touching everywhere, sending shocks shooting through Danny’s body. He looks up at Danny with wild eyes. “What?”

“Maybe-” Danny sucks in a breath as Steve tweaks a nipple, and grasps Steve’s shoulders to steady himself, “maybe we should slow down.”

A panicked look passes over Steve’s face, and he jerks away. “Sorry Danny, ‘m sorry, I didn’t mean-”

“No, no, hey, that’s not what I’m saying.” Danny curves over Steve, trying to meet his eyes. He kisses him, gently, even as Steve squirms. “Come on, let’s just talk for a minute.”

“I don’t want to talk.”

Danny huffs. “This isn’t news.”

“Forget it, all right? You don’t need to do this. You don’t have to stay.” Steve turns away from Danny, curling in on himself. And people say Danny is the dramatic one. But Steve’s in a rough place, and Danny is more than willing to cut him some slack.

Danny slides down next to Steve, stroking his shoulder and pulling the blankets back up over them both. “I’m not leaving you. I’m not going anywhere, okay? That’s not what I meant, you know that, think about it. You just told me you weren’t okay. I heard you, right? I get it. You’re not necessarily in the best frame of mind to be making decisions right now.”

Steve twists around and glares at Danny. “Of all the decisions I’ve made lately, this is the one you question?”

Danny can’t help but grin. “Babe, I question all of your decisions.”

“You’re a jerk, you know that?”

“Maybe, but I’ve been waiting for this a long time, and I don’t want to screw it up," Danny says plainly.

Steve stills. “Been waiting for what a long time?” he asks carefully.

Danny pushes his fingers into Steve’s beard and rubs at his jaw. “For this. Us. For real.”

Steve leans into Danny’s touch, holding his gaze. “I have, too. And I’m not going to freak out in the morning. I promise.”

“Did I say I thought you were going to freak out? Maybe I’m going to freak out.”

Steve frowns. “Are you?”

Danny leans his forehead against Steve’s. “No. No, I am not.”

“Okay, well, that’s settled.”

“Yup.” 

Steve leans in and kisses Danny, long and slow, and Danny can swear he feels it all the way down to his toes.

“You’re quite good at that,” Danny says when they pull apart. 

“I aim to please,” Steve says, leaning in again. This time the kiss is more heated, Steve’s tongue parting Danny’s lips and pushing hot and wet into his mouth. Steve’s hand roams over his head, down to the back of his neck, and cups his chin, angling Danny’s face exactly where he wants it.

Steve’s body is hard and tight and when Danny finally looks up, Steve is holding himself over Danny as if he could do it all day long. There’s a gleam in Steve’s eyes that Danny’s never seen before, and it sends a thrill down his spine.

Then Steve’s left arm buckles, and Steve slumps down, half on top of Danny. “Ow. Ow ow ow.”

“Hey, easy there,” Danny runs a hand down Steve’s shoulder, over the offending arm. “Take it easy. No need to show off.”

“What, I should just lie here and let you have all the fun?”

The image of Steve spread out underneath him, obediently allowing Danny to worship every inch of his body, is incredibly appealing. Maybe another time.

“I think maybe you should avoid injuring yourself further, that’s all.”

Steve grimaces and rubs his bicep. “It hurts like fuck.”

“Have you taken anything?” 

Steve doesn’t answer. 

Danny eases out of bed and finds his backpack on the floor. He didn’t pack much, but he’s never without a bottle of ibuprofen. Feeding it to Steve is a familiar task, and he doesn’t even bother to ask if he wants water with the pills.

“Thanks, Danny.” Steve sighs. “Not a very romantic night, huh?”

Danny climbs back into bed and shuffles under the covers. “I’ve seen you try romantic, babe. We don’t need to go there.” 

“Very funny.” 

There’s an awkward pause, Danny lying on his back next to Steve, almost chaste, wondering what’s going to happen next. Then Steve grabs Danny and pulls him close. Danny lets him, resting his head on Steve’s chest and wrapping an arm around his waist.

“Don’t want to let you go, Danny,” Steve says, almost apologetically.

“Same,” Danny says. “Just rest, okay? Tomorrow we’ll go back to Oahu, get you home. Take it from there. One step at a time.”

“Danny,” Steve breathes into his ear, “With you here, I’m already home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Musical mood for this chapter: _Lovesong_ sung by Adele.
> 
> And let me just say how grateful I am for the last scene of this episode. Thank you, Alex.


	8. 10.08

Steve gets off the phone with Danny and scrubs his face with his hands. He takes a few deep breaths, mentally moving away from his conversation with Danny (“Of course you miss her, babe. I know.”), pushing the ache in his chest to the back of his mind. He’d like to act at least relatively together for his team.

Finally he gets out of his truck and walks over to the group at the table. Everyone gives him sympathetic looks, and while some part of his mind appreciates their concern, mostly it’s just a painful reminder of what has happened; that they all know he failed. The only one that it doesn’t hurt to look at is Lou’s niece, who is busy grilling Tani about police work and couldn’t be less interested in Steve’s trauma.

Steve nods his thanks when a plate of food is set in front of him, although he doesn’t try to eat it. Adam and Junior are talking about basketball, and Quinn is joking around with Kamekona. Steve stares out at the ocean and lets the conversation wash over him.

Just a few more minutes, and Danny will be here.

It’s Charlie who jolts Steve out of his daze, barreling into his legs and beaming at him with a toothy smile. Steve feels a rush of emotion, grabbing the boy up and pulling him into his lap. He’s a beautiful little piece of Danny, skinny and fragile and so, so innocent.

Right behind Charlie is Danny, who is wearing a loose-fitting t-shirt and jean shorts that Steve hasn’t seen in ages. He stands just as solidly as always, chest up and chin high. It’s ridiculous how the sight of Danny immediately eases something in Steve. He’s so gone for him, he doesn’t know how to handle it. In place of doing something embarrassing Steve just hugs Charlie tighter and presses a kiss to the little boy’s head. 

“Hey, Danny, good to see you,” Lou booms, and introduces the girl at his side. Bonnie, who came to the island to try out for the University of Hawaii basketball team. “Sit down, I’ll tell Kame to bring you two some plates.”

“No, no thanks, we can’t stay,” Danny says, moving next to Steve and putting his hand on Steve’s shoulder. “Just came by to pick up this guy.”

“What? No love for us?” Lou asks in mock offense.

“Sorry, not today. Charlie needs some Uncle Steve time.” Danny gives Steve’s arm a tug, and he gets up from the picnic table, taking Charlie with him as they walk back to Danny’s car. Steve can’t be bothered to care about who is driving, he just gets in the passenger seat. He’ll swing by for his truck later. Right now he needs to be in the same space as Danny, preferably as close as possible.

Danny gets Charlie settled in the back, engrossed in some handheld computer game, and they pull out on to the road. It takes a few minutes for Steve to even wonder where Danny is taking him. He hadn’t known Charlie would be with Danny, but it makes sense, given that he’s the reason Danny was off work today.

They drive by a park, and Steve remembers – it’s little league night. He imagines sitting in the stands with all the parents, all of them excited and anxious in turn. It wouldn’t be the first time Steve watched Charlie play, but… “Danny, I um,” Steve starts. “I don’t know that I’m up for-”

Danny turns to him, somehow anticipating what he’s trying to say. “What? Hanging out with Charlie? No, I know. We’re dropping him at Rachel’s.”

“But isn’t tonight little league?”

“Rachel can take him, he’s gonna stay over with her tonight.”

“It’s your day with him, Danny. You don’t have to do this, just drop me at home.”

“Rachel doesn’t mind, she understands.”

Steve looks back at Charlie again, oblivious to what’s going on around him. He lowers his voice. “But won’t Charlie be upset? If you break your promise?”

They stop at a light, and Danny gives Steve a thoughtful look, the kind that makes Steve think Danny is seeing right into his brain and noticing things that Steve didn’t even know he put there. “Charlie will be fine, Steve. He spends two or three nights with me every single week. He knows I love him. He’s surrounded by people who love him, he’s got more family than he knows what to do with. I never promised that I’d go to every single little league game, or spend a certain number of hours with him, that’s not what being a dad is about. Charlie can handle a change in plans, it happens sometimes.”

“But – what kind of lesson is he going to learn from this, from you” Steve’s voice cracks a little, he’s starting to realize that he’s not really talking about Charlie, “from you not being there?”

Danny’s face is sad as he turns to Steve. “He’s going to understand that when someone you love is hurting, you take care of them.” Danny reaches over and squeezes Steve’s hand, and they drive on in silence.

At Rachel’s house Danny walks Charlie to the door. Danny comes right back to the car, a plastic container in his hands.

“What’s in there?”

“Homemade shortbread cookies with jelly. They’re delicious. Rachel sends her condolences, by the way. She’ll probably stop by in a few days, she gets that this isn’t the right time.”

“Thanks.”

Steve zones out on the drive to Danny’s house. He doesn’t mean to, but he can’t help it, it keeps happening. He can’t seem to stop thinking about his mom, wondering what he could have done differently, running the angles to figure out what went wrong. It all ends up in the same place; his mother is gone. He thought he knew better, but he failed her, and now she’s never coming back.

At Danny’s they go into the kitchen, and Danny sets him up with a cutting board, a bag of carrots, a peeler, and a big knife. He’s vaguely aware that Danny is doing something with a chicken and a really large pot.

“Hey, that’s good babe, that’s enough,” Danny says gently. “Why don’t you sit down?” Steve blinks up at Danny, then looks at the cutting board, where he has succeeded in subduing the carrots into a pile of finely shredded pulp. Maybe not what Danny had intended for the soup.

Danny slides the cutting board out of the way and sets down two bowls of steaming oatmeal. It smells good, sweet and cinnamon-y. “I think chicken soup is too ambitious for tonight. Eat this, and we can call it a day.”

Steve stirs it, watching the swirl of maple syrup on top blend in. “I’m not really hungry.”

“I know,” Danny says. “But you have to eat.” Danny sits with him, scooting his chair a little closer. He takes a spoonful himself, then talks with his mouth half full, pointing his spoon at Steve. “You didn’t eat anything all at since I left you this morning, am I right?”

Steve doesn’t have to answer. He eats a few bites of the oatmeal, ignoring the feeling in his stomach that makes him want to toss it right back up.

“I texted Lou,” Danny says after a few minutes, seemingly out of nowhere.

“Yeah?”

“He’s back in the office tomorrow. You can take a few days, Steve. Get your bearings.”

The implication that he isn’t capable of doing his job stings, but Steve knows that’s not what Danny is saying. Besides, he didn’t feel right today. He clearly missed something with the DEA guy, no matter how consoling Quinn tried to be.

“I’ll think about it.”

When Steve has clearly eaten all he’s going to eat, Danny takes the dishes and rinses them before putting them in the dishwasher. He pokes around in the freezer and moves a large, foil-covered pan into the refrigerator.

“Lasagna,” Danny explains. “One of many; this one has sausage instead of ground beef. I kind of went a little crazy with the cooking when you were gone.”

“Who did you make them for?”

“Us,” Danny says simply. “Figured at some point you’d probably come back and would appreciate some home-cooked food.”

Steve doesn’t miss the “probably” in that sentence. He can’t forget how his actions have affected Danny too, how it worried Danny to have Steve in danger and out of touch for so long. 

Danny continues talking about his efforts to cook himself into distraction. “At first I was going to make a variety of stuff, but then I figured, why not stick with what works? It was kind of therapeutic. They started to pile up, though. I gave one to Junior – he may mention it at some point. He didn’t like it.”

“What? Who doesn’t like your lasagna?”

“That’s what I said.” Danny shrugs. “Noelani’s mom liked it.”

“Noelani’s mom?”

“Yeah, she was sick, so I gave her one. And a kid in the lab had a baby, I gave him one too.”

“Is there anyone in HPD who hasn’t tasted your lasagna?”

Danny smirks, and Steve blushes.

“That is not what I meant, Danny.”

“I know.” Danny comes over and touches Steve on the shoulder. “Come on, let’s go to bed.”

Steve glances at the clock on the wall. “It’s not even eight.”

“Tell me with a straight face that you want to do anything right now besides sleep.”

Steve wiggles an eyebrow, and this time Danny blushes. But then Steve shakes his head. “No, you’re totally right,” he admits. “I would love to go to sleep.”

Steve showers, which helps him feel a little more human, and puts on a clean t-shirt and boxers. When he comes out, Danny is already in bed, reading something on his phone. Steve picks up the shirt Danny has tossed on the floor, the one Danny was wearing earlier, and holds it up.

“This is mine, isn’t it?”

Danny looks up, unapologetic. “Yes.” 

Steve can hear the “you gotta problem with that?” in Danny’s tone, and Steve smiles. “Okay.” He knew it was his, knew it the moment he saw Danny walking towards him at the shrimp truck. He can’t really put into words how it makes him feel. It’s as if Danny is sending him a message – things are crap right now, but remember there’s something else going on, too. There’s us. Whatever that may be. A hope, a possibility. Something good that will still be there, after all this pain has subsided and Steve can breathe again.

Steve climbs into bed, careful of his arm that still twinges if he moves it wrong. He shuffles under the covers and feels the warmth of Danny’s body heat radiate towards him. Danny puts down his phone and opens up his arms for Steve. Steve leans into him and they kiss, long and slow, with a tenderness that Steve can feel all the way down to his toes.

When Steve pulls back Danny gathers him close, threading his fingers into his hair. Steve wraps his arms around Danny and holds on tight. 

“You’ll get through this, babe,” Danny murmurs. “You’ll make it, and I’ll be with you. I’m not going anywhere.”

Steve digs his face into Danny’s chest. He slowly steadies his breathing and concentrates on the smell of Danny’s skin, the weight of his hand on Steve’s back, his heartbeat under Steve’s ear. Here like this, warm and safe and surrounded by Danny, Steve can almost believe that things are going to be okay.


	9. 10.09

“Okay, so I know that was awkward,” Steve says, as he joins Danny in the kitchen. It’s not his best opening line, but Danny has been quiet ever since the guests left, and it makes Steve’s nerves twitch. A quiet Danny is an unhappy Danny.

Danny reaches up to put away the last of the dishes, his black t-shirt pulling tight across his back, and then turns towards Steve. His face is studiously blank.

“What was awkward?” Danny leans against the counter, hands gripping the edge.

“Your conversation with Quinn. About Rachel.”

Danny shrugs. “It’s what we agreed.” Danny pushes past Steve and out of the kitchen.

They had decided not to tell the team about them yet, to let them keep thinking that Danny and Steve were just best friends, as utterly inadequate as that term was even before the events of the last few weeks. But when Quinn caught Danny by surprise with a question about his ex-wife, Danny had maybe dug the hole of misdirection a little deeper.

Steve grabs two beers out of the refrigerator and follows Danny to the living room. “I know you’re bummed about Charlie and Grace not being here today,” Steve says, handing Danny a beer.

“You could say that.” Danny’s dejected expression says it too.

“It’s making it all seem harder, I know. But they’re still coming over tomorrow, right? The weather’s going to be great – we could go for a hike, make a picnic with the leftovers.”

Danny flops down on the couch. “I’m sorry, it’s not that big a deal. I’ll get over it.” 

Steve sighs. Now he’s just made Danny feel guilty. He sits down on the couch, lengthwise, and drops his bare feet on Danny’s lap. This has the desired effect of making Danny grumble.

“I’m not the only one allowed to be down on Thanksgiving,” Steve says. “You can feel sad about stuff too.”

Danny’s shoulders sag, and Steve can see his defenses crumbling. 

“Come on,” Steve wiggles his toes. “Foot massage. You promised.”

Danny snorts. “I did not.” But he lays his hands over Steve’s left foot and starts rubbing anyway. “Junior looked baffled this morning, when I came over with my bags,” Danny says, seeming to change the subject. “I thought he had caught on.”

“To us?” Steve asks. “Nah. Junior’s really kind of oblivious.”

“You don’t think Tani has clued him in?” They’ve discussed it, and Steve knows that as far as Danny is concerned, Tani is the best detective in the group when it comes to interpersonal relationships. Steve isn’t so sure. 

“No,” Steve says. “Junior will believe you’re here because your house is dangerously contaminated with mold until he actually catches us in the act, and even then, he might never say anything out loud.”

“Some kind of Navy loyalty? Respect for a superior?”

“Maybe.” Steve shifts so his other foot is on top, letting Danny work his magic.

“I’m glad he went to Tani’s tonight,” Danny says softly. 

“Yeah, me too.” Steve thinks back to what Lou said to him just before their impromptu football game. “Lou doesn’t buy the mold story, though. And he thinks it’s just a matter of time before you realize that I know there’s no mold.”

“So he suspects that we’re…?”

“Nah. He just thinks you’re worried about me.”

Danny stops rubbing Steve’s foot and looks at him. “I am worried about you.”

Steve brushes it off, but the admission makes him feel warm nonetheless. “I’m fine.”

“You’re not. You’re grieving, and that’s okay. It’s not the same as fine.”

Danny returns his focus to Steve’s feet and digs a thumb into Steve’s instep, making him groan. 

“How can you have so much tension in your feet?” Danny asks. “Your feet are like other people’s shoulders.”

“You can do my shoulders now, if you want,” Steve replies easily. “Test out your theory. Or I can do yours.”

Danny lolls his head in Steve’s direction. “Sounds like a plan.” Danny gives Steve’s foot a final squeeze and scoots over on the couch, shoving Steve’s legs out of the way.

Steve twists to get his hands on Danny’s shoulders, but the angle isn’t great, both of them half on and half off the couch. “Let’s go upstairs.”

Danny’s bags have been stowed in the guest room to keep up appearances, but Steve never had any illusions about where Danny would be sleeping, despite their bickering in front of Junior. The chore wheel, though, that he was serious about. He’d already put a draft together while Junior finished setting up the chairs and tables earlier today.

Danny sits on Steve’s bed, running his hands over the quilt. Steve comes near, and Danny looks up, his face open and suddenly very close to a certain interested part of Steve’s body. “How do you want me?”

Steve’s heart races, and he has to force himself to remember that they were talking about back rubs.

“Um, on the bed, on your stomach?”

“Okay.” Danny strips off his t-shirt and climbs on to the bed, pressing his cheek into the pillows. Steve straddles him, one knee on either side of his narrow waist, and lays his hands on Danny’s warm skin.

Danny’s shoulders are definitely tight, taut muscles worked into knots. “Wanna talk about it?” Steve asks. He starts by running his hands up and down Danny’s back, establishing a rhythm.

“About?”

“Whatever’s bothering you.”

Steve can feel Danny tense, and he thinks he’s not going to get an answer, but then Danny twists around onto his back and stares up at him. “Do you think we’re doing the wrong thing?”

Steve almost leaps off of the bed, but Danny stops him with a hand to the thigh. “No, you doofus, not this. This is right. With… keeping it secret.”

Steve feels the adrenaline seep out of him, and he flops down on the bed next to Danny, rolling on to his side to face him. “We both thought it would be best, at least for now.”

“I know. But were we wrong?”

“Do you think we were wrong?”

They’re at an impasse, and Steve can tell Danny is trying to work his way through it. “Tell me again why we thought it was a good idea.”

Steve thinks back to their conversation. It had seemed obvious at the time. “One, it’s really new. Two, it’s private. Three…” He’s not sure what three was, or at least, he’s not sure he said it out loud at the time. “It’s private.”

Danny grins. “So it’s very private, is that it?”

Steve leans forward and pecks him on the nose. “Yes. Do we need another reason?”

“I dunno. I just don’t like lying. It feels too much like…” Danny trails off, but his tone sets off some kind of alarm in Steve’s chest.

“Like what, Danny?” Steve nudges Danny’s hand until his fingers open and he can hold it properly. “Tell me. Feels like what?”

Danny is looking fixedly at their clasped hands, lying on the quilt between them. “Like we’re ashamed.”

“I’m not ashamed,” Steve says quickly and firmly. “Are you?”

“No-”

“I didn’t think so.” Steve scoots closer, poking Danny’s foot with his own. “What’s this really about?”

Danny squeezes his eyes shut. Steve pulls their entwined hands up to his chest, and ducks to kiss Danny’s knuckles.

“You don’t have to say if you don’t want to. But you’re making me nervous.”

“Well then that’s two of us,” Danny says with a rasp in his voice.

Steve runs his hand up Danny’s arm to his shoulder and cups the back of his neck. Danny opens his eyes and meets Steve’s gaze.

“What if I screw this up, like I do everything else? What if it doesn’t work?”

“Danny, you’re not gonna screw this up. It’s been ten years, and we’re still talking to each other.” Steve sends a meaningful glance down their bodies and up again. “Looks like we’re doing okay.”

“Yeah, but…” Danny lets out an embarrassed sigh. “It’s not as if I have any experience with… this…”

“More than me, I’m guessing.”

This seems to catch Danny off guard, and he shifts backwards, enough to look at Steve without his eyes crossing. “We’ve never actually talked about this, have we?”

“About what?”

“Our, um, experience. With guys.”

Steve shrugs. “I’ve fooled around some. Never let it get too serious. Too much of a risk, in my line of work.”

“You’ve been out of the military for years.”

Steve almost argues back, but then realizes his traditional career-based excuse really hasn’t held water for quite some time. “True.”

“So why haven’t you dated any guys, once you could?”

“I dunno. I guess it was just easier to date girls.” And because you were the only guy I wanted, Steve thinks, whether I admitted it to myself or not. “What about you? Did that crush on the outfielder on your baseball team ever go anywhere?” Steve wiggles his eyebrows a little.

Danny snorts. “You’re ridiculous. And no, that particular crush did not go anywhere.” Danny draws his finger on the leaf pattern of the quilt. “This may come as a surprise to you, but I’ve never done anything with a guy. Except you.”

Steve is surprised. Danny has been so confident with him, so open and relaxed in their physical relationship, relatively chaste though it’s been. But Danny seems anxious about it now. Steve is far too familiar with having to fake it ‘til you make it, and he doesn’t want Danny to feel that way, not with him.

“So,” Steve says softly, finding Danny’s eyes. “I’ll be your first?” He tries to pour all his care for Danny into his voice, not teasing now.

Danny gets it. “If you’re lucky,” Danny says in a whisper.

“I’m definitely lucky,” Steve responds, pressing in for a gentle kiss, then nuzzling Danny close.

“You’re such a sap,” Danny says into Steve’s cheek.

Steve pulls back, still keeping his arms wrapped around Danny, one hand moving up to squeeze his shoulder. “We should get tested soon.”

Danny’s brow wrinkles. “We don’t need to, I trust you.”

“Let’s do it anyway.”

Understanding dawns in Danny’s eyes. “You think I’m nervous because of Teddy?”

Danny had an uncle that died of AIDS related complications, back when Danny was in junior high. He was his dad’s youngest brother, and hadn’t lived nearby, but his loss had been a shock for everyone. Danny had told Steve years ago, after a tough case with a victim that apparently looked just like Teddy.

Steve shrugs. “Would make sense.”

Danny bites his lip. “The last time I saw him was at a Thanksgiving dinner, at my grandma’s house. I remember she kept trying to get him to eat her famous stuffed shells.”

Fuck, it would have to be Thanksgiving, Steve thinks. “Sounds like a regular night at the Williams’ house,” he says lightly.

Danny smiles weakly. “Yeah.” He lets out a long breath. “But really, Steve, I’m not worried about that. We’ve both been tested before, and you and I haven’t exactly engaged in any high risk behaviors – at least not that kind.”

“But when Teddy died, AIDS was this terrifying, uncontrollable epidemic that was killing gay men. And you were just a kid. It had to have affected you.” 

Danny acknowledges this with a nod. 

“So we’ll get tested. No big deal.”

Danny looks at him, his blue eyes wide. “Okay. Yeah. Thanks.” Danny surges close, digging his face into Steve’s neck. “How the fuck do you know me so well?” Danny asks, but it isn’t even really a question. 

It’s why Steve feels so sure with Danny, why he doesn’t think for a minute that they are going to screw this up. Because they do know each other, heart and soul. Steve doesn’t think there’s anyone in the universe that knows him as well as Danny does. It’s what he’s most certain of, especially these days.

Steve hugs him tighter. He strokes the back of Danny’s head, then around to the sides, where the shaved sections of hair are growing back. “You know, if there’s stuff you don’t want to do, that’s cool too. We can talk about it, whenever-”

Steve is interrupted by Danny jerking away, an affronted look on his face that quickly turns into… something else.

“Oh no, no, you’re not getting off that easy,” Danny says, a mischievous look in his eyes. “There is…” Danny sends his gaze slowly down Steve’s body, “_nothing_ I don’t want to do with you.”

“Oh, is that right?” Steve finds his voice has risen inexplicably.

“Yes, babe, it is.” Danny shifts up on an elbow, and runs a finger teasingly from Steve’s lips, down his neck, and then slowly continues south to his belly, stopping at the waistband of his pants. He fixes him with an appraising look, tongue darting out over his lips. “Have I ruined the mood, or can I give you a demonstration?”

Danny’s voice has gone throaty, and Steve’s body throbs in response.

“The mood’s fine, no problem,” Steve stutters out.

Danny smiles, his confidence returning full force. “Good.” He leans in and kisses Steve with intent, tongue darting and teeth clacking, as he curls his body against Steve’s from head to toe. When they come up for air, Danny presses Steve on to his back, and straddles him just as Steve had done to Danny earlier, but this time with an entirely different goal in mind.

Steve breathes hard as Danny deftly unbuttons his shirt, then gets impatient and rises to tug it off over his head. His movement brings his lower half into firm contact with Danny, and they both freeze for a moment in excitement at the evidence of obvious arousal on both their parts.

Danny slinks down, laying himself over Steve. The brush of his chest hair against Steve’s naked skin makes him shiver deliciously. Danny reaches up to cup his cheek, and Steve’s eyes flutter closed. 

“Oh, babe,” Danny says, rocking his still clothed groin against Steve’s, “we are going to have so much fun.”


	10. 10.10

Steve opens the door to his house and steps inside, feeling his shoulders relax. There’s music coming from the kitchen, and he grins a little to himself as he leaves his shoes at the door and goes to find Danny.

He pauses for a moment at the doorway, watching Danny sway his hips to the beat of what sounds like a Paul Simon song from the 80’s.

“Hey, babe,” Danny says, noticing him, and dances over to drop a kiss on his cheek. “You made good time. Dinner’s almost ready.” He waves towards the fridge with the spoon in his hand. “Why don’t you get out some beers.”

It’s been a long day, and Steve is all too happy to oblige. He opens a beer for Danny, takes a long swig of it himself first, and then sidles over next to him. Danny’s stirring something aromatic in a pan on the stove. Steve leans over, fingers darting out to grab a taste. 

“Stop that,” Danny says, pushing Steve’s hand out of the way. “Animal. I said it’ll be done in a minute. Go wash up.”

Danny’s such a dad sometimes, Steve thinks. He kind of loves it.

By the time Steve has washed his face and hands and changed into a clean t-shirt, Danny has turned off the music and is bringing the food out to the table. He sets the frying pan carefully on a green and blue quilted potholder – something Grace made years ago that managed to find its way to Steve’s house. Plates and silverware are already laid out, so Steve sits down and lets Danny serve him the fragrant stir-fry and a scoop of brown rice.

“This looks wonderful,” Steve says, his mouth already salivating. “Thanks.”

“Szechuan style,” Danny says. “It’s a little spicy. I added extra chiles. Might have gone a bit too far.”

Steve takes a bite of the gleaming combination of chicken, peppers and onions, and feels his sinuses tingle. “No, it’s great, I like it.”

Steve spears a particularly nice looking piece of red pepper from Danny’s plate, for no real reason at all, and Danny mock glares at him while he chews.

“Your table manners leave something to be desired,” Danny scolds, and Steve just smirks and knocks his elbow against Danny’s.

“Guess I’d better get used to chicken and veggies, huh,” Steve says after a few more bites. He knows this dinner is a result of his doctor’s instructions to change his diet. As delicious as it is, it’s a marked change from their usual fare of grilled meats, cheese-filled Italian specialties, and take-out.

“Not just chicken,” Danny says mildly. “Fish is healthy too.”

Steve frowns. “It sticks to the grill, and falls apart.”

“That’s because you refuse to listen to me. If you put in a grill basket, that wouldn’t happen.” 

“If you use a basket, then it just sticks to the basket.”

“Not if you grease the basket with a little olive oil, like I showed you.” Danny pushes at Steve’s shoulder, and Steve goes along with it, rocking in his seat. “Stop pouting. You can still have steak sometimes. Your doctor didn’t say never, right?”

“True.” Steve sighs. “It’s just one more thing.” One more sign that he’s not the same guy he used to be.

“Yeah, I know. Better than the alternative, though, right?”

Danny’s in his 40’s too. At least they’re going through this together. It’s still depressing. “Quinn called me old today. And wouldn’t let me have a malasada.”

“Told you she was smart.”

“But you just said – it doesn’t mean never-”

Danny snorts. “You always tease me about eating them, why so eager for donuts now?”

“It’s principle of the thing.”

“Yeah, well, honestly, Steve, when you called me in a panic after your appointment this morning, I really didn’t think we were going to be discussing menus.” Danny’s tone has shifted; he’s not smiling any more. “It’s just food.”

Steve looks away, a tight feeling in his chest. He may have overreacted a bit. Given everything, needing to change his diet is relatively small potatoes, no pun intended. He glances up at Danny, who is frowning and picking at the label on his beer bottle. “You thought something else was wrong, when I called you after my appointment,” he finally says, acknowledging the cause of Danny’s concern.

“I did,” Danny says simply. “Next time I’m going to the doctor with you. My nerves can’t take this.”

Steve starts to protest, and then stops. He wouldn’t mind, actually, having someone there with him as he waits for the doctor to tell him if the radiation poisoning has finally caught up with him. It’s possible that the stress over what he feared he might learn at his appointment may have had something to do with his overblown reaction to the whole diet thing. “Okay, yeah. You should come next time.”

They clear the table in silence. Steve catches Danny around the waist as he sets the dishes in the sink, and presses a kiss to the side of his neck. “I’m sorry.”

“Nah, it’s okay,” Danny says, turning to kiss Steve properly. It’s a good kiss, firm and with just the right tease of tongue, but Steve pulls back before it can get too involved.

“What’s wrong?” Danny asks.

“I’ve got to go back to the office. Duke wants to see me.”

Danny’s eyes widen. “It can’t wait until tomorrow? What’s going on?”

Steve shrugs. “Duke didn’t have a chance to fill me in.” He glances at his watch. “We’re meeting at nine at the palace.”

“That’s weird.” Danny grabs Steve’s hand and tugs him out of the kitchen. “We can chill for a while though, right? You look like you need a break.”

It’s true, just remembering that he has more work to do tonight has brought back that ache in his shoulders. Solving three murders in one day really should be enough. 

They wind up on the couch, and before he knows it, Steve is curling into Danny, tucking his face against his partner’s chest. Danny strokes the back of Steve’s head with one hand, and wraps an arm around his shoulders. Steve lets himself focus on Danny, fills his senses with the warmth of his skin, the scratch of his scruff, the smell of soy sauce and spice on his breath.

“Don’t let me fall asleep,” Steve mumbles, and Danny’s chest vibrates under his cheek as he laughs softly.

“It’s okay, I’ll set an alarm.” Steve is shifted as Danny fumbles with his phone.

They resettle, Danny laying down on the couch, and Steve snuggling up alongside him. “I’m sorry,” Steve says again, too tired to do anything but hold on. The idea of making out sounds pleasant enough, but distant, and his head is too heavy to move anywhere in that direction.

“It’s really okay, babe,” Danny says. “I don’t know why you’re apologizing.” Danny lets out a long breath, stroking a hand along Steve’s side. “I love that you can be like this with me.”

Steve’s brain catches on this, trying to parse the meaning, and Danny must feel him tense because he quickly nuzzles a kiss against his hair.

“No, it’s good. Don’t think it’s a failing, for once, okay? It’s healthy for you to be vulnerable sometimes, to take some comfort.” Danny’s words are tentative, but no less sincere for it. “Most people need it, you know?”

“I’m not a kid,” Steve says reflexively. Babies need touch, but he is a grown-ass man, and he should be able to make it to the end of the day without collapsing on top of his best friend –slash– boyfriend. 

There’s a pause, while Danny clearly thinks about what to say next. Steve’s not quite sure if they’re arguing. Usually their arguments involve a lot less cuddling.

“But this helps, right?” Danny says softly.

“Yeah,” Steve breathes out. “It does.” He can’t deny it. He won’t. He’s gone too long pretending he is happy on his own. He wants to let himself admit it, how much he treasures Danny and the care Danny shows him. He wants to believe it’s real.

“I’m glad it helps, babe.” Danny keeps his stroking Steve’s side, moving his hand up and down from his shoulder to his ribs, soothing the tension under his skin.

“Danny?” Steve asks, wanting to get this out, before he lets Danny’s movements lull him to sleep. It’s important that Danny knows.

“Yeah?”

“I’m really glad too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This episode really didn't give us much (any) McDanno to work with - hope you enjoy this little domestic scene!


	11. 10.11

Danny grins as Steve comes out of the bathroom, still damp from his shower, a pink and green flowered towel wrapped low around his waist. This was a fantastic idea.

“See something you like?” Steve asks, putting a little swing in his step. “Because there’s another one in there with purple flowers. Plumeria, I think.”

Danny steps up close to him and runs a finger around the top of the towel, around the jut of Steve’s hipbone. “I’m pretty sure there’s an orange one, too,” he says, his still clad chest pressing against Steve’s wet skin. “And,” he says, letting his voice drop lower, “turquoise.”

“You sure know how to treat a man,” Steve says, tilting his head to let Danny nuzzle against his cheek.

“Now you don’t have to worry about me using up all your clean towels. And Grace is away at school – she’ll never miss ‘em.”

“You charmer,” Steve says. But just as Danny tugs on the edge of his towel, Steve grabs hold. “Nope. Go shower. You smell like your house.”

Danny’s eyes fly open. “No – ugh - really? All day and you just now said-” He’s sniffing under his arms to see how bad it is when Steve bursts out laughing.

“No, I’m joking, stop it,” Steve says, pulling Danny close. “You smell just fine.”

Danny huffs, the flush of embarrassment still warming his cheeks. “You’re an ass.”

“I’m sorry, I am. Come here,” Steve says, one hand low on Danny’s back, the other cupping his cheek. “You smell great.” Steve digs his face into Danny’s neck and inhales deeply. “I love how you smell.” 

It should be weird, Danny thinks, but instead it’s just turning him on. It doesn’t hurt that Steve is unbuttoning his dress shirt, kissing his way down Danny’s chest, making appreciative noises as he goes. Steve straightens up to slide Danny’s shirt off his shoulders, and Steve’s pink towel falls off too.

Danny can’t help but sneak a peek down Steve’s length. He’s still every inch the Adonis. Steve may worry that he’s not as fit as he once was, but Danny can’t find a single flaw on his toned body.

“What?” Steve catches him staring, but Danny has no shame about it.

“You’re fucking gorgeous, babe. Look at you.” Danny takes one more appreciative look, then steps in for a teasingly chaste kiss. “You’re amazing,” he says, holding Steve’s gaze.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” Steve says, a pleased smile on his face. 

They make quick work of the rest of Danny’s clothes, and Steve tugs Danny into bed. They actually made it home tonight at a reasonable hour, they haven’t been in any gunfights recently, and neither one of them has even a recent injury. It seems like it’s too good to be true.

They’re both getting close, Steve with his hand around Danny’s cock and Danny pulling at Steve’s, when they hear a shout from downstairs.

Danny freezes.

“Danny – what’s wrong? I’m good, keep going-” It actually makes Danny a little proud that Steve was so involved that he didn’t hear the first shout, but he hears the second one.

“Guys, I’m here,” Junior’s voice comes from downstairs. “Tani’s got a thing with her brother, so… I’m, um, gonna go for a run, maybe, okay? I’ll take the dog.”

“Shit,” Steve says. He belatedly stops jerking Danny.

“A long run. I’m going for a _long_ run. See you in, uh, at least an hour. Bye!”

The door slams shut.

Danny lets out a long breath, his heart still pounding in his ears.

Steve snorts against his shoulder, and shifts closer, his hand sliding down Danny’s body and curling around his cock again. 

“Are you – really – you can really just?” Danny tries to protest, but his body apparently doesn’t care at all that Junior practically walked in on them. It’s still one hundred percent on board with the sexy Steve program.

“I can, and I will,” Steve says. “It’s all about focus.” Steve sucks at Danny’s collarbone, and then kisses down his chest. “You’re so hairy.” He pauses, nuzzling at Danny’s belly. “Can I?”

Danny is distracted by the way Steve’s looking up at him through his lashes, pupils dark, when he realizes what Steve is asking. They haven’t done anything yet except use their hands on each other, and while Danny would have been perfectly fine continuing on that path for the rest of his life, he’s certainly not averse to trying something else. 

“Okay.”

Steve grins, and shifts around so that he’s between Danny’s legs. Danny feels suddenly exposed, and he’s not sure what to do with his hands, but Steve lurches forward and kisses him soundly until he starts to relax.

“We can just go back to what we were doing,” Steve whispers in Danny’s ear, lying pressed against him, heavy and warm, fingers tracing patterns on Danny’s chest. “I’m good either way.”

“No, it’s good,” Danny says, hips moving restlessly against Steve. “You can keep going.”

“Cool,” Steve says, and happily slides back down.

Danny has a scant moment to reflect on how easy this is, how much fun, before Steve’s mouth is on him and he can’t think about anything else. The wet heat and suction are overwhelming. It’s not as if he’s never had a blow job before, but Steve is particularly skilled and Danny is in heaven. 

It’s a little different, too, and all the better for it. The scratch of Steve’s beard on his sensitive skin is something that he didn’t know he’d love until it happens, and it only intensifies his arousal. Steve does something wonderful with his tongue, and then Danny’s coming undone in the most amazing way. 

“Holy crap,” Danny says, when he can breathe again.

“Had to complete the mission,” Steve says. He smirks and butts his head against Danny’s.

“You did not just say that,” Danny says.

“Pretty sure I did.”

Danny swings a leg over Steve and leans over him, grinning down at Steve’s goofy face. He can’t really think of a come back, so he just devours him with wide mouthed kisses until Steve is breathing hard and rutting against his hip. Danny drags his teeth across Steve’s jaw, and spends a moment teasing at Steve’s ear, making him shiver delightfully. 

Then Danny reaches down, taking hold of Steve’s cock. Danny loves the heavy feel of him. He’s rock hard, and bucks up into Danny’s touch. Danny figures this isn’t going to take long for Steve either, but he wants to make it good.

Danny keeps up a steady rhythm with his hand, while his mouth travels down Steve’s chest, pausing to lick and suck at first one nipple, then the other. Steve stifles a moan that would make a porn star proud, and Danny redoubles his efforts. When he gives Steve’s nipple a squeeze, Steve comes with a shout, spilling hot and wet over Danny’s hand. 

It’s too early to go to bed, so they clean up and go downstairs, Steve taking the armchair, and Danny the couch. Junior comes in after they’ve almost finished a whole episode of The Crown – he clearly meant what he said about a taking long run. No one says a word about what Junior almost walked into.

Later, Danny sneaks into Steve’s bedroom after Junior has gone to sleep. 

“I really think you should have just come up with me,” Steve says, tugging at the blankets and ruining the burrito Danny was creating for the two of them. “Junior’s got to know now. What’s the difference?”

“He might not know.”

“Danny.”

He might not, Danny insists in his own head. Junior is really oblivious. Danny turns over, pulling the blanket with him. Steve grunts and gets out of bed, returning with another quilt. 

“Should I be offended?” Danny asks, looking back over his shoulder at Steve.

“You’re a blanket hog,” Steve replies. “I get cold at night.”

“We live in Hawaii.”

“And yet, you’re a blanket hog.”

“Okay, fine.” Danny turns back over and presses close against Steve, his head on his chest. “Give it.” He arranges the first blanket until it is evenly draped over them both. “Better?”

“Yes, Danny, it’s better.” Steve’s warm breath puffs against Danny’s scalp. “Night, Danno.”

“’Night.”

Danny’s dreaming about rescuing an angry NeNe goose from a bloody crime scene when he wakes with a jolt. Steve is thrashing next to him, clearly caught in a nightmare.

“Hey, buddy, wake up,” Danny says, his voice rough with sleep. He shakes Steve’s shoulder, but it doesn’t work.

“No, don’t – you can’t – no-” Steve mumbles, and then sits straight up in bed, eyes flashing open. “Leave him alone!”

“Steve!” Danny kneels in front of him, trying to catch his wide eyed gaze. “Steve, hey, it’s okay.” Danny cups his chin and tilts his face towards his own. “It’s okay, you’re home. You’re safe.”

“Commander, everything okay?” A voice comes from outside the door. Shit, shit, shit, thinks Danny.

“We’re good, Junior,” Danny says, heart racing. Then, quieter, “Steve, you with me?”

Steve’s eyes are still wide and glassy, but he slowly focuses on Danny, and his breathing begins to slow. “What happened?”

It’s strange to see him this disoriented. Usually nightmares don’t hit him this hard. “Just a bad dream, babe. You’re okay. You’re home on Oahu, in bed with me. It’s the middle of the night. That was Junior, just coming to check on you.”

Steve looks around the room, sees their clothes tossed together on a chair, the pink flowered towel hanging over the doorknob. “I’m home. With you.”

Danny sits back on his heels, and lets out a long breath. “Yeah.”

“Fuck.” Steve falls back against the pillows, grabbing Danny and taking him with him. Danny wraps his arms around him, stroking his shoulder and down his back.

“That one really got you, huh?” Danny asks.

Steve nods, his chin digging into Danny’s chest. “I really could stand to go a few more years without Wo Fat coming back to haunt me. Why does it always have to be him?”

“He’s dead and gone, babe. You took care of that.”

“But someone just raided Wo Fat’s leftover weapons stash, killing half a dozen people in the process. There’s got to be a connection to Wo Fat.”

“Wo Fat’s been dead for what, five years? Six?”

Steve shakes his head. “I know, but… that set-up at the empty storage building today - that was arranged specifically to send a message to us. It felt personal. How does he keep doing this to me?” Steve’s voice is a little desperate, and Danny’s heart goes out to him. He’d really like to be done with Wo Fat, too.

He remembers Steve confessing, after an evening drinking some very fine whiskey, that he hallucinated Wo Fat when he was trapped in the sensory deprivation tank. That was over a year ago. The poor guy deserves a break.

“Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Steve shuffles closer, pulling the blankets back up around them. “Sorry if I freaked you out.”

Danny huffs out a laugh. “It’s not the first time.”

“I’m not sure that’s particularly reassuring.”

“Don’t worry, you’re not gonna scare me off. Although I think Junior was a little concerned.”

Steve groans. “What are we going to tell him?”

Danny shrugs. “How about the truth?” There’s no way Junior doesn’t know by now, and all this sneaking around is losing its appeal.

“Can it wait ‘til morning?”

“Of course it can, babe.” Danny strokes Steve’s head, and leans in to press a soft kiss to his mouth. “Go back to sleep.”

“Okay.” Steve shifts a little, getting comfortable against Danny’s chest, one knee pressed against Danny’s leg. “Danny?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m glad the contractors kicked you out of your house. But,” Steve pushes up on an elbow and smiles at Danny. “I’m pretty sure you would have ended up back here anyway.”


	12. 10.12

“Thanks for getting us out of going for drinks tonight,” Steve says to Danny as they make their way out of the palace. “Sometimes your grumpy reputation is a blessing.”

After the CIA released them, Steve, Danny and Lou had met up with the rest of the team for a quick debrief, mostly to check on Junior and give them all a chance to see with their own eyes that he was all right. But when Magnum suggested drinks at a bar owed by his pal, Danny jumped to make excuses.

It wasn’t actually because he wanted to crash, like he told Magnum. Or that he had much interest in getting back to Steve’s house and seeing how badly it had been trashed, which they would have to deal with eventually. Danny actually had something much more interesting in mind.

When they step outside the building into the warm afternoon air, Eric is there, just as instructed.

“Hey, Uncle D.,” Eric says, giving him a bro hug. “Side parking lot,” he whispers into Danny’s ear, awkwardly handing him something which Danny quickly slides into his pocket.

“Later, Steve.” Eric waves and dashes through the front doors.

“What was that about?” Steve asks.

“Just going to see Junior, I think,” Danny replies. “Hey, hang on,” Danny interrupts Steve as he starts to order an Uber. “I want to show you something.”

Steve raises an eyebrow at Danny, but follows him around the side of the building. 

“Holy crap, look at that!”

In front of them, parked smack dab in the middle of the side lot, is a shining red Ferrari.

“It’s just like Magnum’s!” Steve exclaims, jogging over.

"Hopefully no one will put a bullet in this one."

“Danny, come here. You’ve got to check it out.” Steve is running his hand covetously over the hood of the car. “488 Spider, 650 horsepower. Isn’t she beautiful?”

“Take a closer look,” Danny says, and tosses the keys to Steve.

Steve reaches up and catches them easily. “Danny? What’s going on?”

Danny grins. “It’s for you, at least for the next 24 hours.”

“It’s mine?”

“Well, technically, it’s mine. It’s a rental, though, so let’s not show it to any bad guys, okay?”

Steve practically bounces on his toes. “Are you serious? Can I drive?”

Danny gives a mock sigh. He clearly wouldn’t have bothered with this whole endeavor if he wasn’t going to let Steve drive. “Of course, babe.”

The delighted look on Steve’s face is one of the best things Danny has ever seen, and it makes his whole body thrum with pleasure.

They get in and buckle up, Danny taking a minute to appreciate the fine detailing and soft leather in the interior.

“Nice, right?” Steve says, turning on the car. “This car is fantastic. It’s a supercar. It’s got three times the power of the original model. It can go 200 miles per hour!”

“Let’s not test that in Honolulu traffic, please.”

Steve just beams, not even bothering with his traditional snark, and pulls out confidently onto the road. “Can’t decide if I want to go east, or up to the north shore.”

Danny shrugs. “Do both. We’ve got time.”

Before long they’re cruising along the highway, heading towards Makapu’u Point. There’s really nowhere on Oahu where Steve can drive the car at its fastest speeds, which Steve gripes mildly about, before deciding that he’ll be getting up before dawn in the morning to see if he can find some empty road. He keeps up a near non-stop description of the car and all its features (the 3.9 liter engine, the fancy controls on the wheel, the folding roof) as they drive, and Danny sits back, content to listen for once.

Steve pulls into the Diamond Head lookout, which is remarkably free of tourists for a Friday afternoon, but doesn’t get out of the car.

“We’ve been here dozens of times,” Steve says. “But I’ve never seen this view from a Ferrari.”

Danny laughs. He’d really like to kiss Steve, so he does, grabbing his cheek and quickly smacking him on the lips. Steve’s grinning when he pulls back.

“Thank you for this, Danno. I mean it. This is awesome.”

“Figured we needed some fun after the past few days.” While CIA lock-up wasn’t the worst place he and Steve had been held, their inability to help Junior had been maddening. 

“Yeah. We owe Thomas, don’t we?”

“We do,” Danny agrees. He and Higgins were instrumental in rescuing Junior, and they weren’t even Five-0.

“He wants to hang out. He said you and me should have dinner with him and Higgins sometime.”

“Did he really?”

“Yeah. He told me to bring my partner.”

Danny studies Steve. “He meant work partner, right? Or are he and Higgins…?”

“I dunno. But either way, could be fun. Thomas seems like a good guy, although he’s a little impulsive.”

“Pot, kettle.”

“Whatever.” Steve runs a finger along the side of the door, tapping his fingers. “He let me drive his car, you know.”

Danny snorts. “You may have mentioned that.” Among their recent topics of discussion, along with how to get a message out to Tani and whether anyone at the CIA could really be this stupid, were the details of Steve’s day with Magnum. Steve had been particularly tickled when Magnum’s pals fanboyed over him, much to Magnum’s dismay. Danny really wishes he could have been a fly on the wall for that conversation – Steve deserves to be revered, as far as he’s concerned. 

“Hey, is that what this is about?” Steve asks, a mischievous look in his eye. 

“What?”

“Renting this car.” Steve leans back, and runs his hands suggestively over the steering wheel, then down to the gear shift. “You were jealous that I was driving someone else’s car.”

Danny considers denying it, but then decides that coming clean, so to speak, will be much more fun. “Maybe I was,” he says, pitching his voice low.

Steve appears to choke on nothing but air, and Danny grins at him. “Come on, smooth dog, we’ve only got the car for one day. You want to sit here and flirt, or you want to drive some more?”

Steve blinks. “Honestly? I’m torn.”

Danny laughs. “How about you take me out for dinner in Haleiwa, and then when it gets dark, we find someplace to park?”

“To park?”

“You know – like in high school. _Park.”_

Steve’s eyes go wide. “You mean do it – in the car?”

Danny shrugs. “It’s a rental.”

“Danny, you have the best ideas,” Steve says with fervor, leaning over to kiss Danny so fiercely, Danny begins to reconsider his plan in favor of something a little more immediate. But the sun is still shining brightly, a minivan has just parked next to them at the overlook, and getting caught with his hand around his partner’s dick in public would probably not be good for Five-O’s reputation.

Danny can wait. He’s pretty sure it will be worth it.


	13. 10.13

After the barbeque with Blake and his dad, Charlie is full of energy and reluctant to go to sleep. Eventually Danny and Steve make him a blanket fort in Steve’s dining room, draping blankets over the table and piling pillows inside. Steve crawls in there with him, looking more excited than Charlie. 

Danny retreats to the kitchen to clean up. The day had gone far better than he had expected, even given all the crazy. And it’s been so full of love from Steve, it’s almost overwhelming.

Spending the whole day with Steve, and then ending it with a family barbeque (because they are family, him and Steve and Charlie, just like he told the principal) makes Danny feel like maybe he hasn’t screwed up his life completely. He was being honest when he told Blake’s dad that going through a divorce was horrible, but that was a long time ago, and he thinks he’s got the hang of it now. 

Of how to be a parent in a non-traditional family, how to be a steady source of care and comfort for your kids even when other things in your child’s life are uncertain. Of how not to hate your ex, and even to love her a little. Of how not to give up on yourself. 

He’s not afraid to admit to himself how much it has helped to have Steve at his side. Steve is a wonderful uncle to Grace and Charlie, far more interested and involved than most uncles by blood, not to mention an unwavering support to Danny. From the very moment they met, Steve understood how much Grace meant to Danny, offering tickets for a weekend away, making sure Danny always had time off to spend with her. For as long as he lives, Danny will never forget Steve showing up at that custody hearing his first year on the island, Steve standing tall and imposing in his dress uniform, telling the judge so sincerely that Grace deserved to have Danny in her life. 

And today at the principal’s office, Steve was as much of a co-parent as anyone could be. Danny doesn’t know how he got so lucky.

Danny thinks back to their conversation last night, after he got the call from the school asking him to come in to talk about Charlie. Steve had immediately said that he would go with Danny, even before they realized that Rachel couldn’t make it. They even talked about what they’d say when the principal asked why Steve was there.

Conversations like that don’t come easy to either of them. Despite Danny’s tendency to babble about anything that pops into his mind, it’s still hard to ask your best friend/boss/up-until-now-everyone-thought-he-was-straight whether he’s ready to come out, and to an elementary school principal at that. Plus they still haven’t told anyone, really, about their relationship. 

They’ve talked about coming out to Junior, but then the poor kid got kidnapped and beaten up, and then called up for reserve duty. Somehow the time never seemed right.

But as Danny told Steve last night, the principal was gonna want to know what Steve was doing there. This isn’t Danny’s first school conference, and he doesn’t think it’s even the first one Steve has been to with him (in fact he’s sure it isn’t, and that doesn’t even count the time Steve went to pick up Grace when Danny was arrested), but it’s the first one where he and Steve are _together,_ whatever difference that might make.

Steve might have looked innocent when the time came, but they had prepared for the principal’s question. There’s one thing that’s bothering Danny, though, as much as he has tried to put it out of his mind during their search for Blake’s dad and the reconciliations that followed. But now, idly wiping down the counters in the kitchen, it’s impossible to let it go.

For whatever reason, Steve had gone off script during their conversation with the principal. “Emotional support friend” might be true, but it wasn’t what they had agreed on, at least as far as Danny remembered the conversation. It was supposed to be “partner” – not “work partner” but just “partner,” which they had decided was just vague enough to give them an out if the principal reacted badly, but truthful, and more in line with being open about their relationship.

Danny knows it doesn’t mean Steve isn’t as committed to Charlie as he’s always been. The animated sounds coming from the dining room tent fort as Steve acts out the parts to one of Charlie’s favorite stories are evidence enough of how all-in Steve is. Danny’s just afraid it means something about how certain Steve is about their own relationship.

All day, Steve was there for Danny, closer than any “work partner” would be. But he never crossed the line into _more._ Steve stood in the place where Danny’s co-parent would stand, right by Danny’s side, but he never put an arm on Danny’s shoulder, never took his hand. He never said anything that would reveal the truth. He certainly didn’t introduce himself as Danny’s boyfriend.

Of course, they’ve never used that term. They’ve even kind of made fun of it, laughing at the idea, as if they were high school kids. He’s not sure why the word makes them so uncomfortable. It’s not as if they still don’t call girls they date “girlfriends.” It shouldn’t be so scary.

Danny’s never had a boyfriend, never had to think this through before. He thought he and Steve were on the same page – but if they were, why is Danny feeling so worried?

“I think he’s asleep.” Steve comes into the kitchen, startling Danny out of his thoughts. “Wanna go outside?”

They grab a few beers and head down to the beach. Danny wonders how many times they’ve stood here, watching the evening turn to night, listening to the water lap gently against the sand. “Time to trim that tree again,” Steve says, looking over to the left, where the foliage has once again begun to eat up the narrow stretch of waterfront space.

“Yeah,” Danny agrees mindlessly. Yard work really isn’t what he’s most concerned about right now. Is Steve that content, or is he covering? Usually Danny thinks he can tell, but at the moment, he’s feeling topsy-turvy.

Danny should be content himself too, he thinks. After a day like today Danny should be over the moon with contentedness, sated with the security of his little family unit. Instead, he’s picking apart Steve’s words like a loser.

“You still worried about Charlie?” Steve asks.

Danny wants to kick himself. While he’s caught up in navel-gazing, Steve is still focused on his son.

“No. I mean, there will probably be a few more bumps in the road, but I think he and Blake worked it out pretty well.”

“With a little help from Eddie.” 

“Sure, he definitely helped.” Danny leans his shoulder against Steve. “You did, too.”

“Nah, I didn’t do anything.”

“I heard you talking to Charlie, Steve. Telling him what you told me, about being bullied when you were in school, how it felt. You’re crazy if you think that didn’t help.”

Steve gets a little smile on his face. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. You were a really good dad today.” The word slips out – dad, not uncle – and Danny lets it. And Steve, miracle of miracle, accepts it.

“Thanks, Danno.”

Remembering how good Steve was with Charlie reminds Danny of their own talk earlier in the day, how Steve had helped Danny understand what Charlie was going through. “You, uh, you never told me about being bullied yourself, when you were a kid.”

Steve shrugs. “Never came up.”

Danny watches as Steve shifts, just a little, poking the wet sand with his bare toes. “Probably it’s not something people expect you to have dealt with, right? Big, tough, former Navy seal that you are now.” 

Steve looks at him, his eyes glowing in the moonlight. “Yeah, Danny. That’s right.” 

It’s a moment Danny recognizes, then. When it feels as if they see right into each other, splayed open and connected in a way that Danny’s never felt with anyone else. Steve is supposed to be invulnerable, but he’s not, and Danny knows it, accepts it, loves Steve for all of himself, strong and weak and everything inbetween. Danny gets Steve, and Steve is grateful for it, and it goes the other way too, all the time. All the time.

He reaches out, and Steve is there, wrapping a hand around the back of Danny’s neck, pulling him close as they kiss and kiss until they are both breathless, each with a beer bottle still dangling from their free hands.

“Let’s go inside,” Steve says, and Danny can feel his heart racing as he nods in agreement. Steve cares for him, Danny and his kids and his past and his divorce and his grumpy love language and all of it. And Steve _wants_ him.

Steve loves him, and Danny loves him back. They may not have said the words, but Danny knows it’s true, knows it deep down, in the very marrow of his bones. 

Danny may have screwed things up before, he may have failed at keeping his anxiety from interfering with the good things in his life too many times to count. But this time around, Danny’s not going to let his negative thoughts and second-guessing ruin his chance at happiness. This time, it’s going to be different.


	14. 10.14

Adam and Quinn have headed out to their cars, but Tani hangs back, apparently not quite ready to call it a day. 

“Hey, Steve? Can I talk to you about something?”

“Sure.” Steve sits back down on the couch next to Eddie, who quickly puts his head in Steve’s lap. Poor guy, he doesn’t deserve this. At least now they’ve figured out what triggered Eddie’s PTS. Hard to believe it was the purple flowers planted next door by a well-meaning botanist that set him off.

“You said Danny’s doing all right?” Tani says. 

“Sure, yeah. He’s just taking a few days off. He’s fine.”

“Are you?”

Steve pauses, fingers in Eddie’s fur, and turns to give Tani his full attention. “What do you mean?”

Tani bites her lip. “It’s just - well, I’m sorry if I shouldn’t say it, but it seemed like you guys had a good thing going.”

Steve’s heart races. He and Danny had never really told anyone on the team that they were together, so he’s not quite sure how Tani knows they’re not anymore. 

Tani seems to take his silence as an invitation and sits down on the other end of the couch. “Do you want to talk about it?” she asks gently.

Steve presses his eyes shut for a long moment. He had thought he was okay with it all, right up until Danny told him that he was at a bar with a woman – at ten o’clock in the morning – and Steve had gathered up all his false bravado to wish him well. Hearing that tone in Danny’s voice, that flirtatious happiness, had felt like a punch in the gut.

“It’s complicated,” he finally says.

Tani shrugs. “I’ve got time.”

Steve thinks back to his conversation with Danny a few weeks ago, when he told Danny he thought they were better off as friends. Good friends, of course, the best, but nothing more. He told Danny that he’d always love him, but that he didn’t want to continue the less platonic aspects of their relationship. He remembers the hurt disbelief in Danny’s eyes, and the way Danny had argued with him, yelling and waving his arms until he realized that Steve wasn’t going to change his mind.

It’s hard having to explain it to Tani, but Steve knows she cares about them both. He’s not sure that talking to her about what happened will make it any better, but he trusts her, and it probably can’t get any worse.

“I’m not very good at balancing work and my personal life,” Steve begins, and then huffs out a bitter laugh.

“What?”

“Would you believe that’s the second time I’ve said that today?” Steve doesn’t really think of Eddie’s vet as someone he let slip away, but with Danny, it’s becoming painfully apparent.

“Guess it’s on your mind.”

Steve strokes Eddie’s ears, trying to figure out what to say. “Yeah, I guess so.” Steve sighs. “Danny and I… we had hardly gotten started, you know? I mean we’ve been friends forever, but this was new and… I kinda got cold feet. Like I always do.”

“You sound like you have regrets.”

Steve snorts. “You could say so. But it’s no one’s fault but my own. And now’s he met someone else, so…”

“He has?”

“Yeah, just this morning. I don’t know how serious it is, could be nothing, right? But he sounded happy.”

Steve glances up at Tani, who’s looking back at him like she’s trying to figure out a puzzle. “You think it’s too late? If you told him how you feel? I mean, there is a certain attractiveness to honesty, falling on your sword and admitting you were wrong. A sincere apology and confession of love could work wonders.”

Tani makes it sound so easy. “I don’t even know how I feel,” Steve deflects. “It doesn’t matter anyway. Danny’s been through enough with people jerking him around. This thing with Rachel – he really gave it a try. And that didn’t work out. If Danny’s found someone who’s good for him, I’ve got no right to interfere.” 

“Don’t kid yourself, Steve. You were good for him.”

“Clearly not, or he wouldn’t have had to take a bunch of personal days just to get away from me.”

“Okay, enough with the pity party,” Tani says, a teasing note in her voice. “You’d do anything for Danny, and he knows it. You’d risk your life for him a hundred times over.”

Steve has a sudden flash back to the conversation, _that_ conversation, and Danny’s stricken expression. Yeah, he’d risk his life for Danny. But not, apparently, his heart.

Tani’s phone beeps, and a second later, so does Steve’s. She reads the text first, as Steve digs his phone out of his pants pocket, and Steve hears her sharp intake of breath before he gets his phone in his hand.

“What is it?”

“Danny’s been in a car accident. It’s bad.”

Ice runs down Steve’s spine, and he leaps off the couch. Eddie gives a whine and Steve twists back to look at him. “Tani, can you-”

“Of course, I’ll stay with Eddie. Go.”

Steve is halfway to the north shore before he gets any useful information about the accident. There’s still not much, though – Danny’s rental was forced off the road, his passenger badly injured. Danny had been driving, but no one seems willing to tell him anything much about his status now. Steve keeps telling himself that Danny called it in, so he must be okay. He has to be okay.

When Steve sees Danny walking towards him in the middle of Waianae Valley Road, he skids to a stop. His brain can’t process the sight fast enough – Danny’s upright, clearly not dead, but he’s limping and covered in blood and _what the hell is he doing out here by himself?_

Steve jumps out of the truck, not even bothering to turn it off, and runs towards him. He grabs Danny up in his arms, and Danny goes stiff, like a blood-covered tin man. 

“I’ve got you, Danny, I’ve got you,” Steve pants out, leading him to the side of the road and sitting him down on the ground.

“Can you tell me what happened? Danny? Why aren’t you with the paramedics?” Danny’s not meeting his eyes, and he doesn’t seem to be tracking. Steve touches him all over, checking for injuries – there’s so much blood, smeared on his face and his shirt and his arms but miraculously, none of it seems to be Danny’s.

When he gets to Danny’s ribs Danny jerks hard. “Okay, okay, sorry, hey, it’s okay,” Steve says, trying to calm him. “Anywhere else? Danny?” Steve puts a hand to Danny’s cheek and tries to catch his gaze. “Danny, you with me? Looks like you busted a rib or two. Are you hurt anywhere else?”

Danny blinks and shakes his head. “Not me. Her.”

“I’m sure she’s being taken care of. I’m talking about you right now. Tell me where you’re hurt.”

Steve hears footsteps behind him and glances back over his shoulder. There’s a cop approaching, with a paramedic on his heels.

Danny sees them too, and shifts, awkwardly trying to stand up.

“Hey, Danny, relax. Stay here with me. Let the paramedic check you out.”

Danny doesn’t answer, but he stops trying to move away. He sits obediently while the paramedic looks him over and takes his vitals. He answers the cop’s questions in a dull monotone. Steve grits his teeth as he hears the story and realizes that the woman in the car was the one Danny had met in the bar, and that the accident – with Danny driving – has very likely killed her.

Danny tells the cop what he knows about the car that forced them off the road. “She saw the plate. She wanted the police to catch him so he wouldn’t hurt anyone else.” He laughs bitterly. “I told her she was going to be okay.”

Danny flatly refuses to be taken to the hospital. He doesn’t even want to get into the truck, but his resolve wears down when Steve informs him that if Danny insists on walking, Steve will simply drive behind him until Danny collapses from shock and exhaustion and then Danny will wind up in the truck whether he wants to or not.

When they pull up in front of Steve’s house, he sees Danny’s eyes flicker over to Tani’s car. “I’ll tell her to take off,” Steve says. “You’ll be all right here for a minute?”

Danny looks at him like he’s an idiot, but then Steve decides he’s not up to letting Danny out of his sight anyway and shoots Tani a text. It’s a little cryptic, but given their conversation earlier he figures he can get away with it. Danny stares out the front window until Tani gets into her car and drives away, then hauls himself out of the truck and follows Steve into the house.

“I’m gonna shower,” Danny says, heading straight up the stairs. Steve spends a minute with his head buried in Eddie’s soft fur, and then sits himself in the hallway outside of the bathroom. When a reasonable amount of time has gone by – and it’s really unfair that he’s got such a clear idea in his head of how long a reasonable shower is for Danny – he knocks on the door.

“You okay in there?”

Steve holds off for another thirty seconds, and then calls out again. “Danny?” When no answer comes, he opens the door and sticks his head in. 

The room is filled with steam from the hot water, but Danny isn’t in the shower. He’s curled up on the floor, still in his bloody clothes. His face is hidden against his knees. He barely looks up when Steve comes in. 

Steve slides down next to Danny and takes him in his arms. After a moment, Danny grips him back with surprising intensity, hands clutching at Steve’s shirt, forehead pressing hard into his neck. Steve’s heart feels like it’s breaking all over again. “It’s okay, Danno. It’s gonna be okay.” It’s meaningless, and may really not be true, but it’s all he has.

Danny’s shoulders are trembling, and he’s shivering despite the heat of the room. Steve holds him tighter, stroking his head and shushing him. He presses a kiss to Danny’s blood-stained cheek, and Danny shakes his head against Steve’s chest. “No,” he hears Danny hiss out at him. “You left me.”

Danny moves away enough for Steve to see his face, crumpled in pain, but Steve can’t let him go. He rearranges his grip and pulls Danny into his lap, sharp knees and elbows knocking into him as he gathers him close. “I’m sorry, babe. I’m sorry. I didn’t leave you. I’d never leave you.”

Cursing himself for ever making Danny doubt him, Steve rubs Danny’s back and kisses his dirty hair. Wrenching sounds come from Danny’s throat, mangled apologies and choked off sobs, but the tears that fall first are Steve’s own.


	15. 10.15

“So, how are your eggs?” Steve asks. “Not so bad, right?”

Danny chases the last bite around his plate, and tries to restrain his grin as he looks up at Steve. “They’re okay, I guess.”

“They’re perfect. They’re exactly like you like them.” Steve smirks at him. “Admit it, come on.”

“You’re a terrible cook.”

“I’m not,” Steve says, crossing his arms across his chest. “I’m an excellent cook, and I know exactly how you like your eggs.”

He does, that’s the infuriating thing. Steve knows every damn thing about him. Truth is, Danny would like to sit here all day, on the counter in Steve’s kitchen, eating his perfectly cooked, a little burned but miraculously still fluffy eggs, and think about nothing else. “Ah, they’re all right.”

Steve cocks his head and holds Danny’s gaze, eyes widening just enough to send shivers running up and down his spine.

“Stop it,” Danny says.

“Stop what?”

“Looking at me.”

Steve opens his mouth as if to respond, and then his face falls. “Sorry.” He turns away, busying himself straightening up the cooktop, and Danny feels like a heel. This mess between them just keeps getting more complicated. They’re broken up, but they’re still as close as ever, barring the kissing and assorted other intimacies. It’s hard to navigate without feeling awful most of the time. He wishes they could just spend all day bickering about eggs and never have to deal with reality.

He slides off the counter and puts his plate in the sink. “I’m gonna hit the shower.”

Steve nods, still wiping up around the stove with a cloth. 

As he moves past, Danny pauses and lays his hand on the back of Steve’s shoulder, feeling his warm muscles twitch under his touch. Danny can see him swallowing hard. “Thanks for breakfast, Steve.”

“Of course. Anytime.”

“And for, um, not kicking me out.”

Steve turns to face him, and despite Danny’s warning, he’s _looking_ at him again, with those eyes that see right into him. “You know I always want you here.”

But Steve’s soft words have to fight through the barrier that Steve himself put up three weeks ago, when he said that he didn’t want to be together any more. Danny doesn’t understand how the Steve that said he didn’t want Danny’s love can now be the Steve that wants him in his house. 

Steve’s not a selfish guy, never has been, but this situation is making Danny remember that Steve’s also not great at understanding how his actions affect others, not where emotions are concerned. 

But Steve’s giving him that look, caring and earnest with an undercurrent of desperation and regret, and Danny can’t find it in himself to reject him. 

“Yeah, babe, I do. I know.” 

There’s a moment, then, when Danny almost leans in and kisses him, forgetting that he’s not supposed to do that anymore – and then remembering, but almost doing it anyway – but he pulls himself away just in time, his hand dragging slowly down Steve’s arm.

“You’re going to shower?” Steve asks, and he’s not really asking about the shower, his eyes flitting back and forth between Danny’s face and where Danny’s hand still rests at Steve’s wrist.

_Keep it together,_ Danny tells himself. You’re as bad as he is. “Yeah, I’m rank. I’ll be down after, we’ll drive in together?” Danny steps away, and waits for Steve’s answering nod.

“Okay.”

Upstairs Danny strips off his sweaty t-shirt and shorts and gets in the shower without giving himself time to question himself. He keeps the water cool, needing to remind his body that he is not, in no way, hoping that Steve is going to follow him upstairs and slide in behind him. This morning they will not be late because Steve insists on washing his hair, running his fingers through what there is of it over and over, whispering to Danny with his breath hot on the back on his neck. Steve isn’t going to wrap his arms around Danny, drag his fingers down his stomach and slowly take hold of his cock. If Danny leans back, he won’t feel Steve, hard and teasing against Danny’s ass as they press together, Steve with one hand against the wall so they don’t lose their balance. Not today. 

Danny takes care of himself in record fashion, biting his lip and keeping quiet. 

*****  
Work is relatively uneventful. Danny spends the morning watching Steve watching Adam. Steve is convinced something is up with him, even after what Adam did for Bonnie yesterday. Danny keeps playing devil’s advocate with Steve, partly because he hates to think that Adam is lying to them, and partly because it makes Steve a better detective. 

Tani brings them back lunch from Rainbow – it’s been a while, she says, and she wants comfort food – and eats hers in Danny’s office while they do a debrief on her day with the HPD recruits. Aside from the fiasco with Endo Tanaka, Tani got great results, and Captain Keo wants her to come back again.

“Not bad for a kid that didn’t graduate from the academy,” Danny says, and Tani beams.

“Yeah. Felt pretty good, being there as part of Five-0.”

“Did you get to show off at all?”

Tani grins. “Maybe a little. I mean, Bonnie’s quick, but…”

“You’re quicker?” Danny asks, knowing the answer.

“Damn straight.” Tani gets up, closing up her plate lunch container. “So, bad segue, but, how are you doing?”

Danny nearly groans. “I thought this conversation was about you and your kick-ass day at HPD?”

“It was, and now it’s not. Don’t think you’re deflecting that easily.” Tani tosses the remains of her lunch in the garbage and sits back down in the chair by Danny’s desk. “I’m sort of surprised you’re at work.”

“Better than sitting at home thinking about it.”

“There wasn’t anything else you could have done, Danny.”

“That’s what everyone keeps saying.”

“That’s because it’s true.”

Danny rubs his face, trying to banish the image of Joanna trapped in the car, the light going out of her eyes as he stood there, helpless. He knows that logically he didn’t cause her death, but he still should have been able to save her. It makes him sick to think about it, but like he told Tani, he’s not going to get over it any faster sitting in Steve’s living room, keeping Eddie company.

“Thanks, I appreciate it,” he says to Tani, who seems to be waiting for a response. “Let’s check in with Lou, he wanted to run down a few more leads on that case from last week.”

Recognizing a change of subject, Tani nods, and the day continues on.

That night Steve falls asleep on the sofa while Danny is flipping channels, trying to decide if there is anything new on Netflix he can pay attention to for more than ten minutes in a row (so far, there’s not). After a while Danny gets up, wincing at the pain in his ribs. He turns off the television and stands by the sofa studying Steve’s face for far too long. He should arrest him for those damn eyelashes alone.

Danny’s unfolding a throw blanket to lay over him when he stirs and sits up. 

“Hey,” Steve says, blinking. “Did I fall asleep?”

“No, you were just snoring in between sharing your insightful commentary on Mindhunter with me.”

“Were we watching Mindhunter? We should make Tani and Junior watch that. Team bonding experience.” Steve frowns. “I think I was dreaming.”

Steve is clearly still not entirely awake, and he’s a little too adorable for Danny to keep his defenses up. He sits down next to him on the couch. “What about?”

Steve shuffles closer, pressing their shoulders together. “A party on the beach. By Kamekona’s. I was trying to get you to pay attention to me.”

Danny laughs softly. “So, a regular Friday night?”

Steve lays his head on Danny’s shoulder. “The other day, after the accident. Back at my house. You heard what I said, right?”

Danny sucks in a breath. “Not sure. And… honestly… it’s hard to think about.” He had felt like he was drowning, there on the bathroom floor, hardly able to breathe. Only Steve’s arms around him had held him together.

Steve shifts, turning so he’s facing Danny. He’s fully awake now, eyes glinting in the moonlight coming through the windows. “I made a mistake, Danny. I’m sorry. I get it if it’s too late. But you deserve to know.”

Danny’s heart suddenly slams hard against his chest. “Wait, what are you saying?”

Steve reaches out and takes Danny’s hand, giving it a squeeze. Danny wonders if Steve can feel him shaking, or if it’s just his brain threatening to go offline.

“Danny, I was wrong to break us up. I…” Steve’s voice cracks. “I was scared. I’m always scared, when it comes to this kind of thing. I know you say you’re the one who always messes up relationships, but look at my life, I’ve never…” Steve breaks off and shakes his head. “I’m sorry. I don’t expect that saying this will change anything, you’d be fully within your rights to tell me to fuck right off.”

Danny can hardly believe what he’s hearing. “This has been hell for me, you get that, right? Trying to back off just enough to satisfy your, your _request_ that we go back to what we were before? And then when I was lucky enough to meet someone so fast, I let myself hook up with a stranger, she dies hours later? Don’t you see how insane this is?” Danny can feel his voice rising, but he can’t seem to stop.

He pulls out of Steve’s grasp and stands up. “Are you really serious – you – you want to get back together?”

Steve looks stunned, the hand that was holding Danny’s flopping limply down to his knees. “You hooked up with her? Where did you even do that? In the bar bathroom?”

“Yes, I did,” Danny almost shouts. “And what of it?” 

Danny can hardly stand to look at Steve after this outburst, not wanting to hear whatever criticism Steve is sure to throw his way, but when he does, Steve’s expression is morphing from astonishment to something that might even be pride.

“I’m not mad,” Steve says calmly. 

“You would have no grounds whatsoever to be mad,” Danny replies, taking deep breaths and trying to match Steve’s even tone.

“I’m not, I’m not. I mean, we were on a-”

“Don’t say it, oh my god don’t say it-”

“Break. We were on a break.” Steve is smirking at him, and he gets up and takes Danny’s hand again.

“We were not ‘on a break,’ you broke up with me,” Danny reminds him, and for some reason, he feels the urge to giggle. “I was there. I remember.”

“Maybe, though, we could look back at it differently.”

“Rewrite history? You’re ridiculous. What are you now, the Texas State Board of Education? Do we need to talk about evolution again?” 

Steve is now fully in his personal space, his thumb rubbing over Danny’s hand, his other hand landing on Danny’s shoulder. Danny can’t stop looking at Steve’s lips, the way his tongue comes out to lick them, taking just a second too long. He’s certain Steve is doing it on purpose.

“Danny, will you do me a favor?”

Danny inhales sharply. “Of course.”

Steve moves his hand from Danny’s shoulder to his cheek, and turns his face so he’s forced to meet his gaze. “Will you think about it? Taking me back?”

Danny closes his eyes, but it’s hard to be rational about anything at all, given Steve’s proximity. He smells too good, up close like this. Danny just wants to bury his face in Steve’s neck and wrap his arms around his ridiculous shoulders and stay there forever. But the past few weeks have been hell, as much as they’ve done a pretty good job covering it up with their normal routine of work and meals and throwing sticks for Eddie. How can he know if Steve really means it this time?

“Danny?” Steve asks, a tremble of nerves in his voice.

Danny opens his eyes and steps back, still holding on to Steve’s hand, but giving himself a bit of space to breathe. “Yes. I’ll… I’ll think about it.”

Relief washes over Steve’s face, and he smiles hopefully. “You will?”

“Yeah. I will.”


	16. 10.16

** _Two days before Valentine’s Day_**

Danny is at the picnic table on the lanai, cleaning his gun. Steve is watching him from just inside the doorway.

He’s knows it’s a little bit creepy, but since Danny knows very well that he’s there, he doesn’t feel too badly about it. And there’s something about watching Danny’s hands move over his weapon that just gets him. It’s not his fault if he enjoys the sight.

More importantly, it makes Steve feel better to know where Danny is, to know he’s right there outside the house. It settles him. Even if he and Danny aren’t together right now, he still wants Danny nearby. He thinks Danny knows this. Steve’s said it a dozen times, even over eggs the other day. He hopes Danny believes it.

Steve’s been trying to be patient. He knows he fucked up with Danny, and he feels like an idiot for it. How could he have chickened out? Worse, he hurt Danny unnecessarily. Although Steve’s aching for Danny to just take him back, he understands why Danny might not want to. He’s relieved beyond measure that Danny agreed to think about it. But he can’t help but wish he’d hurry up.

“Stop lurking and come sit down,” Danny says, not looking up from his gun.

Steve ambles over and takes a seat across from his partner. Danny gives him a look, the one that says “you goof, you’re at it again,” and Steve smiles back. But then Danny’s expression changes, and Steve feels something tense inside of him.

“I know you’re waiting for me to make a decision,” Danny starts, and Steve’s stomach clenches. If Danny was going to say yes, he doesn’t think he’d explain it this way. “But you need to stop – I don’t know – _hovering_ all the time. It’s not going to help.”

“That’s not why I hover,” Steve blurts out, completely failing to deny it.

“No? Why, then?” Danny’s got a bit of a smile curling the edge of his mouth, and Steve loves him, loves him right in the middle of this terrible conversation, loves him even as he realizes he’s screwing things up constantly. It’s a real pain in the ass.

“I just like you,” Steve says. He might as well be writing Valentine’s Day cards for kindergarteners, he’s so eloquent.

But it brings a real smile to Danny’s face. “I like you too, Steve,” Danny says affectionately, and Steve’s heart soars. “And I’m glad you want me around, I truly do.” Danny looks around Steve’s house, waves his hands to take it in. “It’s like home, here. It means a lot to me.”

“Yeah? Good, that’s good,” Steve says, not sure where Danny is going with this, because his tone has shifted away from fond and is sliding back towards something less positive. It gets worse as the moment lengthens, Danny clearly choosing his words carefully.

“We need to take some time,” Danny finally says.

Steve just stares at him. Danny is holding his gaze, determined. “What do you mean, ‘take some time’?”

Danny sighs. “I mean you can’t be holding your breath waiting for me.”

“You mean _you_ need some time,” Steve says, a hint of annoyance in his voice, possibly to cover up the fear. “I don’t need time, Danny. I know what I want. I’m sorry, I fucked up, but I know what I want. I want you.”

Danny stands up, one hand leaning on the table. “Maybe I need you to take some time too, and make sure you really mean it.” He takes his gun and his cleaning supplies and goes back towards the house, stopping just as he reaches the doorway to look back at Steve. “I’m gonna get changed, then we need to leave if we want to be on time for Charlie’s game. Still up for it?”

“Of course,” Steve says quickly, as Danny gives him a backwards wave and heads upstairs. He stays at the picnic table until Danny comes back down, trying to get his thoughts in order. Danny didn’t say no, and Danny’s not leaving. Steve can handle this. He has to.

**_One day before Valentine’s Day_**

Steve’s in his office, pretending to read his email but actually daydreaming about what Danny is doing with his day off. He’s considering giving him a call when he gets a text. 

A little pulse of excitement runs through him – was Danny thinking of him too? Does he want to get lunch, or make plans for tonight?

But the text isn’t from Danny. It’s from Brooke.

_Hey, I know it’s been a while. Have any plans for tomorrow night?_

Steve hasn’t thought about Brooke in ages, hasn’t seen her in more. He’s sort of rendered speechless, if that’s a thing when you’re texting. Before he can respond, she sends another text.

_Don’t panic, I just enjoyed our time together and I thought it might be nice to try it again. Totally casual._

Steve’s not sure what this means, but honestly, it feels good that someone actually wants to spend time with him. God knows what Danny’s doing tomorrow night, but he’s made it clear that it isn’t going to be a romantic evening with him. 

Steve has tried to really understand what Danny said to him on the lanai yesterday, about both of them needing to take some time. Maybe he needs to show Danny that he’s really listening to him. But would going out with Brooke help or hurt? 

And really, if he’s so committed to Danny, why is he interested in seeing Brooke at all? Steve bites his lip, and texts back to make plans. Maybe he owes it to himself to make sure that Danny is really the one he wants. 

** _Valentine’s Day_**

Steve slots himself in between Brooke and Danny on the couch, throwing one arm over each of them. It seemed like the logical thing to do. And Danny was asking for it, really, sitting down next to Brooke like that.

Was he actually asking for it? Did Danny set him up, did he want him squashed against his side? For god’s sake, Danny even said he “could use the affection” as Steve’s hand draped over his shoulder. Steve can’t sort it all out. 

Danny doesn’t even seem perturbed about Steve’s date with Brooke, although he did seem pleased that Steve turned the evening into a movie night with the team and their friends. It’s too confusing.

Steve sits there as the movie begins, Hugh Grant’s comforting voice talking about airport arrivals and and messages of love. He’s always enjoyed this movie. He remembers one night years ago when Grace had a bunch of friends for a sleepover here, all of them watching with rapt fascination at the different intertwining plot lines. You can’t beat a good love story, especially with some catchy music to go along with it.

He doesn’t like the Alan Rickman character though. He knows you’re not supposed to, that he’s a villain. But Emma Thompson is too skilled at displaying the pain he causes her, her heart wrenching humiliation when she realizes he’s cheating on her, and it makes Steve feel vaguely ill. 

Suddenly his arm over Brooke’s shoulder feels wrong, and he gets up from the couch, muttering something about making more popcorn. 

It’s not long before Danny follows him in, lifting himself up to sit on the counter next to the sink as he always does. “I didn’t hear any popping,” Danny says conversationally.

Steve turns to face him, helpless as always. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to be.”

Danny accepts this abrupt change of topic in stride. “What do you mean?”

Steve studies Danny, who is showing no signs of distress, his face calm and open and with that faintly fond smile teasing at his lips. 

“How is this so normal to you?” Steve asks, and if he’s changing the topic again, Danny still doesn’t seem to mind.

Danny looks around the kitchen, at their cereal bowls still in the sink from this morning, the half empty bag of chips with the plastic pineapple clip that Steve bought to annoy Danny, their running sneakers over by the door. “This is normal, Steve. This is us. Nothing’s changed.”

“But…” Steve can’t finish the sentence. Maybe nothing’s changed right now, but this strange stasis can’t last forever. Danny could say no, and move out, and find someone else (who please god won’t actually die after their first date, because come on), or he could say yes, and then they’d have awesome make-up sex and grow old together, or some variation anyway.

Danny slides off the counter and moves into his space, putting a hand on his arm and squeezing. “It’s gonna be okay, Steve. This is what I want right now, and I think it’s what we both need. But I’m not going anywhere. I still love you, okay? That’s not gonna change.” 

“Yeah, okay.” Steve can’t meet Danny’s eyes. He wants to believe him, but it’s hard. He can’t lose Danny. He just can’t.

“We’ll be all right, babe. I promise.” Danny squeezes his arm again and steps away. “Now go watch the movie. I’ll make the popcorn.” Danny gives Steve a little shove, and he finds himself back in the living room, watching a movie about characters experiencing love in a dozen different ways while festive music plays all around. 

Steve was crazy to think that his and Danny’s relationship woes could be easily solved, like a rom-com happy ending. No, if he wants Danny to trust him again, he’s going to have to be patient.


	17. 10.17

After the fireworks everyone kicks back in Harry’s hotel room, drinking beer and telling stories. Danny’s trying to enjoy himself, but he and Steve are both walking on eggshells, and nothing feels quite right.

“We went to all that trouble – even called out SWAT thinking he was going to get violent – and then find out the perp was just a regular guy, desperately trying to make an extra buck, so his family wouldn’t lose their health insurance,” Steve is saying, talking about a case that kept them up three nights in a row. “He thought it was worth the risk of jail. A Les Mis situation, right here in Honolulu.”

Steve shoots a smug look at Danny, and Danny sighs. Steve’s going to be making book references for weeks now.

At some point Junior slips out, followed a few minutes later by Tani, who blushes as she babbles something about wanting to make it an early night. This doesn’t fool anyone, of course, and is quickly followed by Junior sending Steve a text to let him know he won’t be home tonight.

Steve is in the process of explaining the Junior and Tani situation to Harry when Danny feels his phone buzz. He goes out onto the balcony and reads a string of texts from Grace about what she wants to do for spring break, and proceeds to let his little girl twist his arm. He misses her like crazy. He thought it would get easier, but so far, having Grace away at college just continues to suck.

When he’s done, he rests his arms on the railing and looks out over the water. It’s a beautiful night, and he closes his eyes for a long moment, wishing things were solved between him and Steve. They could go back to the house, sit out on the lanai, drink beers and make out like teenagers. Seems a shame to waste a night like this on pining, but he can’t help it.

Someone comes up behind Danny and for a moment he thinks it’s Steve, and his heart thumps in anticipation. For better or worse, it’s just Harry.

“Thought you could use another,” Harry says, handing him an opened beer.

“Thanks,” Danny says. 

“Something bothering you, mate?”

Oh, lots of things, Danny thinks. “Nah, I’m fine.”

“Domestic troubles?”

Automatically, Danny glances back inside the hotel room, to where Steve is gathering up the empty beer bottles and placing them in a neat pile by the door.

“No, why would you say that?”

Harry leans against the railing, looking very 007 suave. “Every time I see the two of you, I figure you’ll have gotten your heads out of your assess. But every time, you disappoint me.”

Danny turns back to the ocean and shrugs. “Sorry.” 

“He’s head over heels for you, you know. And I’m willing to bet you feel the same for him.”

Danny feels his throat tighten up. There’s nothing he can say to Harry. He certainly can’t deny it.

“Have you ever-” Harry continues, but Danny interrupts before he can get very far.

“Stop,” Danny says, waving him off. “We’ve – we’re just not, right now.” Danny’s throat hurts as he swallows hard. Danny and Steve have been dancing around this thing forever, and Harry could always see it. He can’t bear to tell him that they actually got together, and then managed to fuck it up. 

Who knew that all those rom-coms where the best friends hesitate to get together for fear of ruining their friendship weren’t that off-base after all? 

“I’m sorry, chap,” Harry says, contrite. “Sometimes I don’t know when to mind my own business.” Harry gives Danny a pat on the shoulder and a mildly pitying look, and then goes back inside. Danny takes a few deep breaths, tells himself to get a grip, and then follows him in.

“Ready to go, Danno?” Steve asks. A look of concern passes over his face as he takes in Danny’s expression.

“Yeah, I’m good.”

They say their goodbyes, Steve honoring Danny’s unspoken signal to let it go for now, and find their way out of the hotel and into a cab.

When they get back to Steve’s house, Danny’s about to head upstairs and shower, when Steve skips ahead of him and practically blocks his way. Danny draws in a breath, steeling himself for another round of hard-core flirting that he isn’t ready to give in to, possibly with a side of “for god’s sake please make up your mind soon because you’re killing me,” but it turns out, he’s wrong about Steve’s intentions.

“I do read, you know,” Steve says, and Danny has to concentrate to fit this non-sequitur into context.

“Sure, Steve, of course you do.”

“I’m not an uneducated guy. I don’t know why you always pretend that I am.”

Danny opens his mouth to banter back, ready to nitpick Steve’s manners, or bring out one of their other tried and true stock arguments, but something in Steve’s tone stops him. Underneath that bravado, he’s hurt. Maybe Danny has teased at this spot too many times.

“I’m sorry,” Danny says instead. Steve’s eyes go wide, and his jaw literally drops open.

“I, uh, wasn’t expecting that,” Steve says, and Danny huffs out a laugh. 

“Give me some credit. I’m not always a jerk.”

“You’re sometimes a jerk,” Steve says with a smile.

“I didn’t say never, I said not always.”

“Fair, okay, I’ll take that.” Steve sticks his hands in his pockets and smiles shyly at the ground. He’s adorable, Danny thinks, for the millionth time.

“Feel like a drink?” Danny asks, ignoring the fact that they’ve each already worked up to a nice buzz and back down again on beer.

“Sure.” Steve’s smile grows brighter. “Whiskey?”

“Sure.” Danny plops down on the couch, and soon Steve joins him, handing him a glass. “There’s stuff I don’t know about you, you know,” he says conversationally. “You could tell me about it, if you wanted to.”

Steve twists on the couch, pulling one leg up so he’s facing Danny. “You know a lot of it’s classified,” he says slowly, as if he’s still not sure if Danny is joking.

“How about the non-classified stuff?” Danny mirrors Steve’s position, his knee now bumping up against Steve’s in the middle of the couch. 

“Like what?”

“I dunno, what did you do in high school when you weren’t trying to beat Chin’s records? What was your favorite class? When did you read Cyrano and Les Mis? Who was your favorite teacher?”

Steve frowns. “Why is that important?”

“None of it’s important by itself, it’s just stuff people know about each other. People who are-” Danny breaks off, feeling his face heat, but presses on, “people who are close.” He doesn’t say, so help him, “people who are in a relationship,” although he nearly chokes as he struggles to find a plausible alternative.

This omission is obvious to Steve, who looks stricken. “People who are ‘close,’” he repeats, sounding like he’s speaking over gravel in his throat, and Danny curses the English language for not giving him better tools.

“Right. Close friends, close…”

“Partners?” Steve asks, without the humor that usually goes along with this joke. 

“Look,” Danny says, losing patience with his inability to express himself properly, “I’m closer to you than anyone else right now, maybe than to anyone else ever. It’s a perfectly good word. As for the rest of it, we’re figuring things out.” That’s the truth, and it has to be enough for now. Danny really, really hopes it’s enough for now, because he’s just not ready to go any further, even if the look on Steve’s face makes Danny want to wrap his arms around him as tightly as he can and never let him go. 

“Right,” Steve says after a long moment, accepting it. “We’re figuring things out.” He glances up at Danny, searching his face, and Danny smiles back at him, trying to convey reassurance. He has the feeling he probably just looks constipated.

Steve bites his lip. “So you want to know what I liked to do in high school?”

“Yes, I honestly do.” Danny says, shifting a little so he can lean back against the arm of the couch. “You hold a lot of stuff close to the belt, you know? I’d like to know more, if you want to tell me. That way maybe I won’t be so surprised when you start quoting Shakespeare.” Tani and Junior holding hands surreptitiously on the balcony did just beg for a Romeo and Juliet reference, so Danny really can’t fault Steve for that one. “Doesn’t have to be high school. Just seems like it’s unlikely to be confidential.”

Steve downs the remaining whiskey in his glass in one swallow. “Okay.” He shifts too, leaning back and stretching out his legs so they lie against Danny’s, “my favorite thing to do in high school, other than play football, was...”

“Was what? Calculus? Physics? Yearbook?”

“Surf.”

Danny groans as Steve insists on perpetuating the Steve-as-brainless-jock image he was just protesting, and then they’re both clutching their stomachs and laughing, relaxing together for the first time in what seems like weeks.

Danny doesn’t miss how Steve has actually still not told him anything about his childhood – how he still doesn’t know what Steve’s favorite book was in English class, whether he hung out at the movies every Friday night or worked a part-time job, whether he had a crush or a date for the prom, but that can wait for another time. For now, he’ll take the sound of Steve’s uncensored laugh, and count himself lucky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! Hope you are enjoying where this story is going! I'm going to be away a lot for the next six weeks or so (through the end of the season, sadly); while I'm still going to write a coda every week, it may not come out as quickly. I can't believe we're in the home stretch already - as tense as writing this story is, I'm not ready for it to be over!


	18. 10.18

Steve sits in his truck, putting off the inevitable. Usually he’s happy to pull into his driveway, especially when he knows Danny is in his house, probably getting dinner ready or checking out what’s new on his favorite delivery app. But not right now.

It’s not like Steve can put it off much longer. As soon as Danny sees his face, Danny’s going to know something’s wrong. He might as well man up and get it over with.

Inside, he can smell tomato sauce bubbling on the stove – they’re eating in tonight, then. Steve’s not sure if this is better or worse. Danny will be in a good mood, but that just means he has further to fall.

Of course, this assumes Danny will be upset about Steve’s news. He might actually be relieved, but that thought just makes Steve ache even more, so he pushes it aside.

“Hey, dinner will be ready soon, but I forgot to get salad stuff – if you really want it, you have time for a quick trip to the store.” Danny comes out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a towel. “Personally I’m fine without it, but I know how you feel…” Danny’s voice trails off as he sees Steve. “What’s wrong?”

Steve slumps over to the couch. That was fast even for Danny. “Why does something have to be wrong?”

Danny just gives Steve a look and sits down in the chair next to Steve, tossing the dish towel on the coffee table. His white t-shirt is a little damp, and he’s wearing his most comfy shorts, the ones that look like he hacked off an old pair of sweatpants. It’s Danny at his cuddliest, and Steve wants to grab him and never let go. But now, sadly, is not the time.

“You met with the governor this afternoon, right? So tell me what happened? Did your grenade budget get cut again?” Danny’s trying to keep his voice light, but he’s caught on to Steve’s mood, and he knows there’s more to it than the annual argument over Five-0’s outrageous expenses.

“No, nothing like that.”

“So what, then?” Danny scoots forward. “Tell me, come on.”

Steve sighs. “It was the most incredibly awkward meeting of my life. Possibly of anyone’s life.”

Danny perks up. “Really?”

“Don’t get so excited.”

“Come on, such drama - it’s got to be good.” 

“Not so much.” 

Danny waits, and when Steve doesn’t elaborate, he hits him on the arm. Kind of hard. 

“Ow.”

“Spill.”

“Fine. We talked about Junior and Tani.”

Danny’s posture immediately changes, his shoulders tightening. “What about Junior and Tani?”

“Their relationship. Apparently the powers that be are not pleased.”

Danny springs out of his chair and starts pacing. “What the hell? There’s nothing wrong with them being together – it’s no one’s business – it’s certainly not the Governor’s business-”

“It is, really,” Steve says. “One, there’s a no fraternization rule-”

“Since when do you care about rules?” 

“Two, it could create a legal problem. Three, it could create a morale problem.” He’s counting off on his fingers, trying to remember what the Governor – and the Governor’s lawyers – said. “Oh yeah, four, appearance of impropriety.”

“Appearance of – how is that any different than a morale problem?” Danny’s trying not to shout, Steve can tell, but he wouldn’t blame him if he did. Steve did plenty of shouting back at City Hall.

“Morale among the team, versus appearance to the public,” Steve recites.

Danny’s waving his arms, practically vibrating with anger. “That’s not going to happen, morale on the team is fine, we’re all happy for them, they’re adorable, they’re just kids, what the hell kind of rule is this-”

“Danny, come on. This isn’t news. We always knew it could be a problem.”

“They don’t even report to each other,” Danny protests.

“And that’s the only thing that saved them from being transferred off Five-0. But the Governor still isn’t happy – if either one of them becomes, what was the word, disgruntled, they could sue.”

“For what? What would they sue for?”

Steve rubs his face. “Sexual harassment, or retaliation. Say they break up, and then Junior gets pissed because he thinks Tani is getting better assignments, and he accuses someone on the team of being mad at him because they blame him for the break-up. Or they’re on the rocks, and one of them pushes too hard, and the advance is unwelcome.”

“That’s not going to happen, not with them.”

“What if they’re together, and their judgement is affected, and someone gets hurt on a case?”

Danny frowns, and Steve imagines he’s running through all the times they did crazy-ass things for each other, taking arguably unwarranted risks with people’s lives. “You really think two people have to be bumping uglies for that to happen?”

“No, but making that point really wasn’t going to help their case.”

Danny deflates. “What happens now? Can they still work together?”

“If they sign a love contract.”

“A what?” 

“A love contract,” Steve repeats. “A statement acknowledging that the relationship is voluntary and consensual, that they’re free to end it, they will abide by the sexual harassment policy, and a bunch of other legal crap.”

“That sounds ridiculous.”

“And I have to bring them in to the City lawyer’s office tomorrow and sit there while they say the same thing.”

There’s a long pause, and then Danny gets up and goes back into the kitchen. “Gotta make sure nothing’s burning,” he says, tossing the towel over his shoulder.

Long minutes go by, and Danny doesn’t come back out into the living room. Steve has a hunch as to why. He pulls out his phone and checks his email, giving Danny a few more minutes to process, and then follows him into the kitchen.

Danny’s chopping basil by the sink, and Steve grabs a leaf and pops it in his mouth.

“Hey, cut it out, you’ll lose a finger,” Danny says tensely, his eyes firmly fixed on his task.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

“Fuck off,” Danny says, “you know what I’m thinking.”

“Yeah, but it’s easier to respond if you actually say something.”

Danny puts the knife down and turns towards Steve, leaning on the counter behind him. “I report to you,” he says.

“Technically, yes.”

“So even with a love contract, that wouldn’t be enough. We can’t date.”

“The topic didn’t come up, obviously. But… yeah, I get the feeling that it might be a harder sell than Tani and Junior.”

Danny doesn’t respond, but he digs his phone out of his shorts and swipes around for a few seconds, then hands it to Steve.

It’s showing a reservation for dinner tomorrow night. For two. For the briefest of moments, Steve wonders if Danny has met someone. Then he sees the name of the restaurant, one his favorites, the Beach House in Haleiwa.

Steve can’t do anything but stare at Danny, who takes his phone back and shoves it into his pocket. “We both have off tomorrow. Figured we’d do something together. Go for a hike, maybe. Have dinner. You wouldn’t even have to iron a shirt.”

“Danny… is this…?” Steve doesn’t want to ask, can’t quite form the words. It’s been weeks of limbo, weeks of Steve trying so hard to wait patiently, telling himself that he’ll be okay no matter what Danny decides, that they’ll both be okay, that their friendship can handle whatever comes next. Joking about pretend dates with other people that Danny knows will never happen, just to try to take the pressure off Danny. Being the very best friend he can be, always. It’s been hard, but Steve hasn’t stopped hoping, hasn’t stopped wanting. He’s not sure he can. 

“Yeah, it’s a date,” Danny says, and Steve feels his heart skip a beat. “Anyway, it was supposed to be. I wanted to take you out. Tell you I’m ready, if you still want… this.” Danny looks up at Steve, his eyes imploring. “I’m ready, I want to - but now – how can we…?”

Steve presses his lips together, his mind racing to come up with anything convincing, any way to persuade Danny that the Governor’s new-found interest in Five-0’s interpersonal relationships isn’t going to be the fatal blow to their reunion. It’s hard to think straight, though, over the pounding of his heart.

“You really want us to be together?” Steve asks, his hands trembling at his sides. “You’re sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure, but-”

That’s all Steve needs. With a sharp inhale, the rest of the world disappears, and all he can see is Danny. “Forget about the Governor,” Steve says firmly, stepping into Danny’s space, crowding him up against the counter. “Do you trust me?”

Something shifts in Danny’s expression, and when he speaks, his voice is tender. “I do, Steve.”

“Then kiss me.”

Danny tilts his head, then brings his hand to the back of Steve’s head and pulls him close. Danny’s lips are soft, and his mouth is warm, and Steve feels almost mesmerized by his touch. He slides his hands around Danny’s shoulders, feeling the strength of his muscles bunching under his t-shirt, and ends the kiss with a sigh.

Danny pulls back just enough to look at Steve, his eyes sparkling. “So we’re gonna do this again, are we?”

“Yeah. I won’t fuck it up this time, I-”

Danny cuts him off with another kiss, and Steve laughs against his mouth. “No more apologies,” Danny says into the air between them. “We’re good.” Danny moves closer and kisses him again, and this time he presses harder, opening his mouth and finding his way into Steve’s. Danny’s got one hand on his waist, and Steve’s gripping Danny’s t-shirt, and they kiss until they have to pause for breath, panting and grinning and generally feeling altogether wonderful.

Steve’s still not sure how they’re going to avoid getting fired, but right now, he simply doesn’t care. He’s got Danny back in his arms, and that’s what’s important.


	19. 10.19

Danny is just about to ask Steve why he’s suddenly getting all contemplative about sunsets (did he actually say he’s gonna miss them the most ‘in the end’? The end of what, exactly?) when he sees the large ATV approaching. Excellent timing.

“Mr. Williams! Nice riding!” 

“Hi Julie,” Danny says to the young woman driving the ATV as she jumps out and jogs over. “Thanks for coming.”

“Danny,” Steve drawls. “Who are these people?”

Danny glances at Steve, who is pouting like crazy, and slides out of the saddle and on to solid ground. “Julie, I’d like you to meet my partner, Steve Mc-grouchy-face. Steve, this is Julie – she’s one of Grace’s friends, and she’s currently working at Kualoa Ranch.”

“I run the ATV rides on weekends,” Julie contributes, more interested in Danny’s horse than introductions. The horse sniffs Julie’s hand appreciatively, and she opens it up to reveal a carrot.

“I’m not just handing our horses over to this kid,” Steve mutters.

“Not to worry, she and Grace used to ride together all the time. She’s a pro. And this is the guy that gave me lessons.” Danny smiles at the tall man who comes up behind Julie, who gives them a respectful nod. 

“Thanks for your help,” Danny says politely, and turns to Steve, who continues to pout. “Steve, let’s go.” He reaches up to give Steve a hand, which Steve ignores as he jumps off his mount and stomps over to the ATV. 

“We don’t need help,” Steve mutters, climbing into the seat and obediently latching his belt. Surprisingly, he doesn’t object to Danny sitting behind the wheel. “We were doing fine.” 

“Sure, but it’s better this way.” 

“Why, exactly? We were having a perfectly nice time.”

Danny briefly considers whether Steve thought their ride down the mountain, after nearly being beaten to death by an oversized bad guy who Danny shot just in time, was romantic. Very possibly. The sunset _was_ beautiful, despite Steve’s somewhat melancholy take on it. And Steve had looked at him almost tenderly when he talked about how seeing something every day doesn’t make it less special.

But that doesn’t mean Danny wants to subject Steve to any more dangers or delays today. Danny let him save face by riding away from their team, but he hadn’t spared more than a minute before texting Julie to see if she was free. Luckily the ATVs move pretty fast.

“Honestly, Danny, I don’t understand why we couldn’t keep riding.”

“Maybe because you’ve got a head injury, you dope.”

Steve puts on his best offended face. “I do not have a head injury.”

“There’s blood on the outside of your skull that used to be on the inside,” Danny comments mildly, starting up the ATV. "And I’m pretty sure that rock was just as hard as the word implies. Hence, head injury.”

“I got checked out, I’m fine,” Steve says, but then they go over a series of bumps in the trail and Steve winces visibly, grabbing on to the side of his seat. Danny lets this go. No need to rub it in, he just wants to get Steve home as soon as possible.

The sun has nearly set when they get back to the ranch, and they don’t talk much as Danny returns the ATV keys to the office and bums a ride off yet another ranch worker. Lucky for him Grace’s friends remember him fondly, as that police officer dad who came in handy on occasion. He’ll be sending her a nice thank you text later tonight (with a small helping of guilt over the fact that he’s seen her friends more recently than he’s seen Grace).

By the time they get back to Steve’s house, Steve is definitely dragging. Wordlessly, Danny puts a hand on his arm and guides him up the stairs. Steve drops on to the bed and lets Danny help him with his shoes. Steve looks longingly at his pillow, apparently considering conking out with his clothes on, but Danny tugs at his dirty t-shirt and helps him pull it off, then frowns at him until Steve takes his pants off, too.

“Sure you don’t want to clean up?” Danny asks, and Steve sighs, then groans as he stands. 

“Fine.”

They take turns in the shower, Danny hovering nearby when Steve goes in until Steve glowers at him. Tired or not, Steve doesn’t waste any time washing off, and Danny follows his lead. 

It’s not even that late, so the fact that Steve wants to sleep is a bit of a red flag. They survived the ambush on the mountain, but Steve had borne the brunt of the attack, taking punishing blows to his body and his head. 

Danny pulls on his sleep pants and a t-shirt after his shower, then fills a large glass of water from the bathroom sink and brings it to Steve with some painkillers. Steve’s sitting on the side of the bed in just his boxer briefs, damp hair sticking up every which way.

Danny joins him on the bed, and Steve sags against him, his shoulder leaning heavily against Danny’s.

“Early night?” Danny suggests softly, and Steve squeezes his eyes together and nods. Danny turns to pull the blankets back, and feels a hand on his arm.

“You’ll stay?” Steve asks, looking oddly vulnerable.

“Of course.”

They climb under the blankets and Steve shuffles around restlessly until Danny tugs him close, letting Steve nestle his head under his chin and curl his long legs over his body. Danny strokes his wet hair, careful not to press against the lump on the back of his head. He only caught the tail end of the fight, but the image of Steve’s attacker raising a hefty log into the air, ready to slam it down on Steve’s face, causes him to shiver.

Steve squirms closer, wrapping an arm tightly around Danny’s chest. Danny skates his hands over Steve’s back, warm skin over tense muscles, up and down until Steve starts to relax.

Just when Danny thinks Steve might be drifting off, however, Steve begins pressing hot, insistent kisses along Danny’s collarbone.

“Steve?” Danny asks as his cock gives an interested twitch. 

“Need you,” Steve murmurs, sucking hard on patch of skin until Danny squirms. Danny really hadn’t thought that this was on the menu for tonight, but he’s helpless to object, not when Steve is pressing him into the mattress with the entire length of his strong body.

Steve reaches a hand down and slides it up under Danny’s t-shirt, moving it out of the way for a quick kiss to his chest and then stripping it off over Danny’s head. With an intense look Steve goes to work on Danny, resuming his kisses at the base of Danny’s neck and then moving slowly but steadily until he’s reached a nipple. Danny inhales sharply as Steve licks and sucks on one nipple while his fingers attend to the other, sensation darting through him like fire.

It’s something Danny has only discovered since being with Steve, how much this turns him on. He can’t say why it never came up when he was with women, maybe they didn’t realize how much he’d like it, maybe Danny himself assumed that it would only be the woman in the relationship who wanted her nipples touched this way, but Steve had caught on immediately. Steve’s tugging at the hard nub with his teeth now, then laving over it with his tongue, and Danny hears himself let out a low moan.

Steve shifts and presses against Danny, and Danny can feel the hardness of his cock pressing close through the thin layer of Steve’s briefs. His own erection is throbbing, and Danny turns towards Steve and throws a leg over his thigh, both of them moving until there’s friction right where they need it.

Steve gets his fingers into the waistband of Danny’s loose pants and they both scramble to get completely naked, then rush to touch each other again, hands grabbing and stroking and desperate for skin. Steve squeezes Danny’s ass with one hand, pulling him nearly on top of him, and Danny thrusts down, rubbing their cocks together. Steve is rummaging under the pillow and Danny hears the pop of the lube bottle, then the feel of Steve’s hand between them.

How Steve manages to corral them both into his hand, now blessedly slick with lube, is beyond Danny’s comprehension, but he doesn’t question it. It feels amazing, Steve’s hand on him as they move together. Steve’s other hand is still gripping Danny’s ass, and Danny loves it, mumbling encouragement as his excitement grows.

Then Danny feels Steve pressing a finger into his crack, moving closer and closer to his hole, and Danny can hardly breathe. “This okay?” Steve pants out, his other hand still moving on Danny’s cock.

“Yeah,” Danny replies, forehead digging into Steve’s chest, “it’s good.” He can almost hear Steve laugh at the understatement, but he’s too focused on the anticipation coursing through his body to care. He shifts up a little, giving Steve better access, and then Steve’s finger is right there, circling his hole. He hears himself making a strangled noise, and then Steve’s finger presses in, just past the tight ring of muscle, and he comes with a shout.

Danny’s dimly aware that Steve comes too, rutting against his stomach as Danny finds his release. He couldn’t care less about the mess between them, sliding up to press his lips against Steve’s in a sloppy, uncoordinated kiss.

“What’s got into you, huh?” Danny asks, tilting his head back and running a hand through Steve’s hair, careful not to disturb the bandage that is somehow still holding on over his left eyebrow. “You’re not dying, are you?”

The words pop out before Danny can stop them – sex completely destroys his filter, especially on a day like today when Steve barely escaped getting his head bashed in and then started talking about sunsets and how used to think he’d see a million more.

“We’re all dying, Danny,” Steve says obliquely.

“Yeah, but earlier – on the mountain – you said we’re gonna miss this when it’s done. What were you talking about?”

“Nothing lasts forever. Anyway, you’re always the one that wants to retire,” Steve says.

_But you can still see sunsets when you retire,_ Danny thinks to himself. He doesn’t say it, though. Steve’s exhausted, his eyes firmly closed, and whatever is going on in his mind, he’s not going to share it with Danny now. He’ll interrogate him further in the morning, maybe schedule a check-up with his doctor. No matter what’s going on, they’ll deal with it. 

“You don’t have to be alone in this,” Danny finally whispers, not knowing what else to say. “Whatever this is. I’m here, okay?”

Steve smiles, not opening his eyes, and pulls Danny closer until Danny rests his head on Steve’s chest, a mirror image of how they started off the night. Danny listens to Steve’s heartbeat and breathes in the smell of sex and warm skin, and tries to fall asleep, heart aching with worry for the man in his arms.


	20. 10.20

Steve walks past the fountains and sparkling infinity pool, weaving his way through the strategically placed lounge chairs until he gets to the beach. The Four Seasons Resort on Maui is an unusually ritzy location for Danny to choose for a spring break trip, but he got some kind of amazing deal and has been looking forward to spending this time with his kids for weeks.

Steve had been touched when Danny insisted that he come along too. At the same time, he was wary of impinging on Danny’s limited family time, and a little hesitant to take off the same week as Danny when they were trying to keep their relationship quiet. They had finally agreed that Steve would join them for the weekend, and so here he is, in his swim trunks and slippahs, gazing across the sand in search of his partner.

He hasn’t been looking for long when he hears a squeal, followed immediately by an armful of young boy. 

“Uncle Steve!” Charlie exclaims. “You’re here! Come swim with me!”

Steve promises that he will, then slings the boy upside down over his shoulder and proceeds down the beach, much to Charlie’s amusement.

He finally sees Danny and Grace, sharing a large beach blanket. Grace spots him and smiles, standing up and coming over to give him a big hug as he slides Charlie back to the ground.

“You look great,” Steve says, and Grace gives him a sassy smile. She’s so grown up, he thinks, but keeps it to himself – he remembers how he hated when people said that to him, as if it was some remarkable observation. But she has, and it makes his heart ache just a little. It’s been a long time since Grace was the one to run up to him and grab him by the hand, demanding that he get in the water and play with her.

Grace seems to see something in his expression that gives her pause, and she grabs Charlie by the arm and tugs him towards the water. “Come on, kiddo,” she says, “get your body board, I’ll go in with you. Steve can’t go swimming yet, he hasn’t put any sunscreen on.”

Charlie looks at Steve wide-eyed, as if he’s committed a felony, and Steve nods. “I need a few minutes to get ready,” he says solemnly. He winks a thank-you to Grace as the kids race off together towards the surf.

Children out of the way, Steve finally sinks down on the beach blanket next to Danny. It’s some kind of thin colorful fabric, like the parachute pants from the 80’s, and it feels nice on his bare feet.

Danny is stretched out on his stomach, head pillowed on his arms, showing off his deltoids and triceps. Steve could look at him all day, broad shoulders narrowing into a trim waist, a sliver of whiter skin showing just above the waistline of his black swim trunks.

Danny’s eyes are closed, but there’s a small smile dancing around his mouth. A moment after Steve settles next to him Danny opens his eyes and his smile broadens, stretching his face.

“Hey there,” Danny says, reaching out to pet at Steve’s arm. “’m glad you’re here.”

“Me too.” Steve sits cross-legged, setting his backpack down and letting out a long breath. “It was an easy trip over. Quick flight.”

“Good.” Danny shifts to his side, propping his head up on an elbow. Steve can feel Danny studying him as he looks out over the water.

“Steve, you okay?”

“Yeah, of course,” Steve replies automatically. He’s not, not really, and he knows it. He’s pretty sure Danny knows it too, even though he’s barely been here a minute.

It’s not as if he doesn’t want to confide in Danny. It’s just the opposite. It’s all threatening to spill out, and he doesn’t know how to control it. Steve can’t stop thinking about the call he got last night, right when he was deep in painful memories of his father, hiding out in the garage and playing that tape. The unexpected call from the lawyer was a stinging confirmation of how much he still doesn’t know about his parents, and will probably never know.

After he hung up on the lawyer, Steve had braced himself on the work bench and narrowly avoided hyperventilating, focusing on his breathing and the feel of the wood under his fingers until he calmed down. Then he packed up the tool box and went back into his house, accepting a beer from Adam and ribbing Hirsch and generally pretending that nothing had happened.

He thinks he did a pretty good job of it. He’s had a lot of practice. But he can never hide this kind of thing from Danny, at least not for long. 

Danny reaches up to grab at the collar of Steve’s t-shirt, tugging him closer. “Lay down,” he says. “Relax.” Danny’s brow is creased with concern. Yup, he’s not buying it.

Steve stretches out on his side, mirroring Danny’s position, and runs a hand over Danny’s head. His hair is sticky with salt, and Danny makes a face. “Cut it out.”

“You’re cute when you’re sunburned,” Steve says, hoping to lighten the mood.

“I’m not sunburned,” Danny replies, gazing down over his bare chest and arms. “Too much fur.”

“It’s a protective coating,” Steve says, touching the soft hair on Danny’s chest. “Lucky you. Your face, on the other hand-”

“My face is fine,” Danny says, grinning. “Your face, though – different story. I can’t stand your face. Hate it.”

“Oh yeah?” Steve says, moving closer. “You sure?”

“Definitely.” Danny leans in and kisses Steve lightly, just a touch of his lips to Steve’s. “Awful. The worst. Don’t want to be anywhere near it.”

They kiss for a few minutes, cognizant of the fact that while the beach isn’t particularly crowded at a luxury resort like this, it isn’t private, either. But it’s enough physical contact to ground Steve, to soothe him. When they break apart, he feels like he can breathe again.

They spend the afternoon alternating between swimming with the kids and lazing around on the beach, and it’s perfect. Steve gets to ogle Danny’s broad chest and strong arms as he carries Charlie on his shoulders through the waves, Grace declining to participate in the chicken fight but chiming in with rules they make up on the spot for their lopsided challenge. He pulls his phone out of his backpack only to snap photos of Danny and Grace strolling along the water’s edge, or Charlie making sandcastles. He does not think about work, or mortality, or Doris. Much.

They order food from the beach side café, poke bowls for Grace and Steve and chicken wings and fries for Danny and Charlie, and eat it on their beach blanket, rinsing their hands clean in the ocean when they’re done. Steve and Danny drink beer and tease Grace about how she’s still too young to drink (she is, although as she’s at college now she just rolls her eyes at them when they refuse her a beer).  
Charlie begs for ice cream and so Steve goes back up to the café to get them each a double scoop of gelato.

The sun is just starting to set, a breeze making Steve’s skin ripple with goosebumps, when Grace stands up and gathers her things. “Sorry we have to go,” she says. “Charlie and I have plans.”

“It’s Avengers movie night,” Charlie explains. “Danno won’t watch them anymore, he says he’s mad about Endgame.”

Steve raises an eyebrow at Danny, and Danny just shakes his head. “We’ve been over this. The time travel plot makes no sense, it wouldn’t work that way, and getting Cap back together with Peggy is completely out of character-”

“I don’t like that they killed Iron Man,” Charlie says. “But it’s still my favorite movie ever.”

Charlie and Grace give them both hugs, and Danny tells Grace not to let Charlie stay up too late, which just earns him eye rolls from both siblings, and then the kids say goodnight and traipse off towards the hotel.

“I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one that has to listen to your Marvel rants,” Steve says, laying down on the blanket, hands behind his head.

“It was a stupid ending. They sidelined Bucky and went full no homo in pairing Cap up with Peggy. And Charlie’s right, there was no need to kill a main character just for dramatic effect. It was a stupid way to end the arc. An insult to the fans.”

“It’s just a story,” Steve says.

“Stories have meaning,” Danny replies. “Representation matters.” Danny gives Steve what is likely meant to be a meaningful look, and Steve laughs. 

“You’re a Stucky fan, aren’t you?” Steve asks, and he watches as Danny’s face goes slightly red. 

“Obviously.”

“I miss Jerry,” Steve says. It’s not a non sequitur, and Danny gets it. Jerry was their enthusiastic guide to all thinks comic book related, and they had spent many an evening watching movies and arguing about their favorite characters. Danny can fly his freak flag high with the rest of them given enough beer.

“Me too.”

Having Jerry leave the team had hurt almost as much as losing Chin and Kono. A long forgotten line pops into his head, a remnant from something he had to read in junior high English class. _So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay._

Steve sighs and closes his eyes, beating back the sudden urge to cry. His emotions are all over the place lately. He’s got to get a hold of himself. 

They lie in silence for a little while, listening to the echo of live music now coming from the pool area. It’s a traditional Hawaiian band, with a female singer singing a romantic song about a lei of stars.

Danny’s hand slides over to Steve, and Steve pulls his arm out from under his head and takes Danny’s hand, their arms warm as they press together. The sun has almost set, and the sky is streaked with pink and orange light.

“This was a great day,” Steve says quietly. “Thanks for inviting me.”

Danny makes a soft noise in his throat. “Of course. I wish you had come for the whole week.”

Steve wishes with all his heart that he could have been with Danny and the kids for the whole week, but he still believes he did what was best. He doesn’t like how Danny sounds a little hurt, though. That’s not at all what he had intended.

“I’m sorry, Danny. I just… I couldn’t.”

“Why not?”

Steve can feel Danny turning to look at him, but he can’t look back, keeping his gaze firmly fixed on the sky. “It’s hard to explain.”

“Can you try?”

Steve shakes his head. Danny’s kids are ‘ohana, they are part of his family. But he’s still just their uncle, not their dad. Danny will always have a connection with them, a legal bond with them, but it’s different for Steve. He doesn’t have any right to them. He can’t keep them with him any more than he can keep Danny.

Danny, who is looking at him with such concern that it makes him want to cry all over again. Or run away, go back to Oahu and sit in the dark by himself, waiting to see what new heartache Doris is about to put him through. He has no idea what’s in the package the lawyer is bringing him, but he is sure it isn’t anything good. Nothing about Doris ever is, in the end, no matter how hard Steve tries.

“I love you,” Danny whispers, turning to wrap his arms around Steve. “I love you. I’m right here.” 

Steve lets Danny pull him in, curling up against him as the sky goes dark and the stars come out. He’ll tell him soon, about the phone call and the package from Doris, and Danny will scowl and curse and stomp around, upset on his behalf and upset at feeling helpless to do anything about it. But for now, Steve just wants to focus on being close to Danny for a little while more. Right now it’s just the two of them, no one else. He wishes it could always be this way.

“I love you too,” Steve says under his breath, knowing Danny can hear it. He tightens his arms around Danny, inhales the warm scent of his skin, and tries to let Danny’s love fill his empty spaces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The line that pops into Steve's head (..."Nothing gold can stay") is from Robert Frost's poem of the same name. As I just wrote in my tumblr post, I'm afraid that after the finale, that may be the epitaph I'll want to affix to the entire season.


	21. 10.21

Danny drags himself up the stairs, wincing as every muscle in his body screams at him. The adrenaline has worn off, HPD has gone home, and he’s about ready to keel over.

Having a hand to hand battle with a feisty intruder had not been what Danny had in mind for the night, but at least he had a chance to get Steve talking before the evening’s excitement. He’s been trying, the past few weeks especially, to get Steve to open up about how he’s been feeling, but he knows how hard it is for him. For both of them.

Steve had come close to opening up, last weekend on Maui, as they lay there together on the beach with the sun setting in tangerine streaks over the darkening ocean. After night fell they stayed sprawled out on the sand, looking at the stars and exchanging lazy, salty kisses. Steve had told Danny about the package from his mother that was on its way, the pain in his voice barely hidden, and it had made Danny’s heart ache.

Now they know that all that was in the “package” was one thin piece of paper, with a cipher that Steve still hadn’t cracked, but which apparently was catnip to the bad guys. Danny hates that Doris did this to Steve, and he’s pretty sure Steve hates it too, if what he said at the cemetery this morning is anything to go on. The last thing Steve needs is more mystery where Doris is concerned, one last straw to weigh him down. Steve has been a super SEAL for a long time, but these days he barely seems able to keep his head above water.

Danny makes it to the top of the stairs and turns to find that Steve is right behind him. Danny grimaces as he realizes that Steve has probably been there the whole time, making sure Danny didn’t topple right back down. Danny’s leg isn’t too pleased with him right now, and Steve can clearly tell that Danny is hurting. 

Steve slides by him with a fleeting smile and meets him in the bedroom with a bottle of Advil and a glass of water before Danny even has time to take off his shirt.

“Come on, you look like you need it,” Steve says, nudging Danny to sit down on the bed and holding out the glass.

“I bet you haven’t taken any either,” Danny grumbles. 

“At least when I got tossed head over heels today it was on the grass,” Steve says, his brows drawing together in a frown as he gives Danny a concerned look. “You sure you’re okay?”

Danny swallows down the pills and shakes two more out for Steve. “Gonna be sore, but I’m fine.” 

Danny doesn’t object, though, when Steve gently unbuttons his dress shirt and carefully eases him out of it. He feels every punch the intruder landed, every spot where his body collided with the living room furniture.

“It sucks getting old,” Danny says, not meaning to, but Steve nods in response.

“Yeah, it really does.” Steve reaches down to untie Danny’s shoes, but Danny brushes his hands away when Steve reaches for his belt buckle.

“I’ve got it, I’m fine,” Danny says, although when he tosses his clothes to the chair he winces again. “Ow.”

Steve sheds his own clothes and slides into bed, holding the covers up for Danny. Danny climbs in carefully and stretches out close to Steve, inhaling deeply as the familiar scent of Steve’s skin and the bed they share soothes him.

Steve draws a fingertip over Danny’s forehead, barely touching the scrape over his right brow, and then lets his warm hand rest comfortingly on Danny’s shoulder.

They’re curled towards each other, Danny near enough to count the prickly gray hairs in Steve’s beard, and he lets out a long sigh.

“Rough day,” Steve says softly, and Danny snorts into the pillow. “What?”

“This was not my plan for how today was supposed to go,” Danny says.

“You’ve been doing this job as long as I have,” Steve says. “Not sure why you’re still surprised by a masked man throwing punches.” 

Steve doesn’t mention how many times their lives have been disrupted by Doris-related chaos, but they’re both thinking it. It’s definitely not the first time. Danny had thought all the Doris drama had been put to rest when Doris died, but that was clearly naïve. 

“No, unfortunately, I’m all too familiar with the rude interruptions of police work,” Danny replies, going along with Steve’s clear desire to avoid discussing Doris any further tonight. 

“It’d be nice if they didn’t hit so hard, though, right?” Steve grins a little, but his touch is light along Danny’s flank, where a very spectacular bruise is just starting to form.

“True, yeah,” Danny says, meeting Steve’s eyes. “But that’s not what I meant about my plan for today.” He sees Steve’s concern for Danny’s cuts and bruises shift into something else, the memory of their conversation on the beach and Steve’s revelation returning.

_I need a little time away,_ Danny hears again, and he fights to keep his head in the game, to not screw this up.

Steve knows exactly what Danny is thinking about. “I just don’t know what else to do,” Steve says, turning away and staring up at the ceiling. “I can’t think of any other way to do this, without getting some space. I’m sorry, I know it’s not…” Steve reaches for Danny as he speaks, but Danny doesn’t know if it’s to blunt the force of his words, or just out of habit. 

Danny comes anyway, pressing close and resting his head on Steve’s shoulder. Steve hand strokes up and down Danny’s back, but Steve is anything but relaxed, his muscles tense under Danny’s weight.

“It’s okay, Steve. I get it.” Danny swallows hard, bracing himself for what he’s about to say. It’s what he was thinking about when he left Steve on the beach with the excuse of getting another beer, what had him distracted when he went into the kitchen, just before he heard the intruder in the living room. It’s what he thought about for the rest of the night, while HPD took their statements and dusted for prints and looked for tire tracks in the dirt next to the driveway.

“I get that this is something you need to do for yourself,” Danny says, raising up on an elbow so he can see Steve’s face. “I really do.” Steve moves his gaze from the ceiling towards Danny. Steve’s eyes are wide and apprehensive, and it spurs Danny on.

“And I get that you want to do it alone.” Danny’s throat tightens up, and Steve blinks hard at him. “I’d go with you, if you wanted, you know that, right? In a minute, in a heartbeat. Anywhere…” It’s true, Danny would follow Steve to the ends of the earth. “But… if that’s not what you need, and I think… I think it’s not… it’s okay. I’m not mad or anything. I understand.” 

“Danny…” Steve’s voice is rough.

Danny reaches out and drags his fingers through Steve’s hair, cupping the back of his head to pull him towards him. “It’s okay, Steve. It doesn’t have to mean…” that we’re over, Danny thinks, although he can’t finish the sentence. 

Steve stares at him wordlessly for a long moment, and then grabs him tight. Danny wraps his arms around him in response, the two of them clutching the other without a care for their injuries. They’re both on the edge of tears, Steve’s entire body trembling.

“I know you love me, babe,” Danny says, and Steve shakes harder. “I love you too. That won’t change if you go. It’s gonna be okay. You do what you need. It’ll be okay.”

“I don’t know what else to do,” Steve says again, his voice heartbreakingly sad, and Danny presses their foreheads together.

“I know, babe. It’s okay. Just…” Danny pauses, trying to find the right words. “Don’t disappear on me this time, yeah? Keep in touch?” It’s such an inadequate request, hardly anything, and yet Danny knows how Steve can lose himself. It happened when he hid out at the ranch after Joe’s death, and on his search for Doris this fall, and Danny doesn’t think he can bear it again. Whether or not they’re _together._ Steve means too much to him. He means everything.

Steve squeezes Danny tighter and tucks his head against Danny’s shoulder. “You’re my Danno,” Steve finally says, his voice strained. “I’m never leaving you.” 

_Yes, you are,_ Danny thinks, shifting to cradle Steve against him as best as he can, treasuring the knowledge of Steve safe in his arms, for tonight if not for much longer. Danny knows moments like this are all too fleeting, and the more precious for it. He wants to remember the feeling of the two of them intertwined, scratchy hair and damp skin and hands clutching at whatever they can reach. He hopes Steve remembers it too. He wants Steve to take the memory with him wherever he ends up, to think of it when he inevitably questions how much he is loved.

“I love you so much,” Danny says intently, past the tightness constricting his throat. He presses a kiss into Steve’s hair. “Always.”

Danny won’t try to keep Steve from leaving, or do anything to add to his pain by making him feel guilty about it. But it’s going to hurt like hell to see him go.


	22. 10.22

Steve clears his throat and withdraws his hand from Catherine’s.

“I appreciate this, I do,” he says softly. “But I’m with Danny.”

His phone pings with another text. He glances quickly at it, then shows it to Catherine. It’s a photo of Danny stretched out on Steve’s bed, one arm folded up behind his head. Despite the fact that Danny is clothed, wearing his t-shirt and shorts, it’s incredibly sexy, and it fills Steve with a wave of longing. 

Catherine just stares for a moment. “If you’re with Danny, why are you leaving?”

“It’s not forever.”

*****  
Steve texts Danny often, keeping in touch as he promised. But it’s a few days before he sends this one.

_Catherine was on the plane._

Danny’s response comes quickly, and in retrospect, he should have known what he’d say.

_I know, dumbass._

Steve snorts a little smile, and then types back. _Care to fill me in?_ He realizes his mistake just after he hits send – he didn’t exactly fill Danny in right away – but Danny doesn’t press him on it.

_Lincoln put her in touch with me, to get your flight info. She wanted to surprise you._

_Well, she definitely did._

Steve thinks back to that last morning with Danny, sitting on the beach behind his house. Danny knew Steve was about to fly off into the sunset with Catherine, and didn’t say a word.

_Danny, I’m sorry._

_Why? Are you with her right now?_

_No._ Catherine had pushed pretty hard, before they landed in L.A., for them to spend at least a few days together. She showed him photos of a house in Tahoe she could borrow from a friend, suggested a drive along the California coast. But after six hours on the plane, they had done enough catching up as far as Steve was concerned. He wasn’t on this trip to hang out with old friends, or old flames. 

He breathes a sigh of relief when Danny replies. 

_I’m good if you’re good. Text me when you get to Joe’s._

*****  
Steve does text Danny when he gets to Joe’s ranch in Montana. Joe had left the place to him, and he figured he’d sell it sooner or later, but hadn’t quite gotten around to it yet. He’d had a pretty busy year, he could be forgiven for not having time to consider real estate transactions.

Joe’s ranch had seemed to Steve to be the perfect place to stay for a while and clear his head, and try to find the peace that he was looking for.

He was wrong, wrong, wrong. Danny, on the other hand, was completely right – Joe’s place held far too many unhappy memories to be a place of refuge for him, even if it had been for Joe. Danny had the good grace not to say “I told you so,” however, probably because Steve was on the edge of a panic attack by the time Danny gave up trying to interpret Steve’s increasingly vague texts and called him.

“Babe, where are you, right now?”

“Joe’s ranch,” Steve says.

“I got that, but where, exactly? Describe it.”

“Uh…” Steve draws in a tight breath and looks around. “Kitchen.”

“Can you go outside?”

“Sure…”

“Go outside, and walk away from the house. Find a tree.”

“A tree?”

“Yeah, just walk away from the house. Are you walking?”

“Yeah, I’m walking.”

“Tell me what you see.”

Their conversation continues on like this, Steve wandering around the property, Danny directing him to places where he didn’t see anyone die. Danny prompts Steve to describe his surroundings - the mountains he can see, the breeze he can feel, the scent of pine trees he can smell. There’s no blood, no fighting, no gunshots, not anymore.

After a while Steve sags down to the ground and sighs out a long breath. He closes his eyes and thinks back to how he felt here at the ranch after Joe died, how his anger consumed him. He remembers, then, seeing Danny appear at the ranch unannounced, striding up to meet him, his strong arms coming around Steve and holding him tight. He’s got at least one good memory in this place.

“Danny?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

*****  
Steve’s next destination was going to be a remote cabin on a lake in British Columbia, accessible only by seaplane. But his reservation isn’t for two more weeks, and he no longer wants to stay at Joe’s until then. Besides, he’s not sure that he’s up for something quite that remote.

He contacts the rental car company to tell them of his change in plans and starts driving. He’s got a GPS, but he calls Danny so many times to ask him to check on cheap hotels, and restaurants, and sights to see, that Danny teases him about starting a side job as a travel agent. 

Steve spends some time driving near Yellowstone, the scenery taking his breath away. Hawaii has mountains, but it doesn’t have glaciers or grizzly bears. Not that he sees any bears, but he could. It’s probably for the best.

He makes a point of not just stopping and taking in his surroundings, but of trying to still his mind. Steve’s never really gotten into meditation before, but he thinks that here in the empty wilderness, with this vast beauty all around him, he’s getting close. He feels like he’s just going through the motions at first, making himself comfortable sitting on a rock, breathing deeply, closing his eyes and trying to experience what he’s feeling without resisting or trying to change it. He opens his eyes and lets himself become aware of the flowers swaying in the breeze, the feel of the sun on his skin, the noise of the insects and the wind in the trees. He tries to hone in on a particular detail - the temperature of the air, cool even when the sun is out. When his thoughts stray (to pain, to loss, to home, to _Danny_) he pulls them back to the sounds and sensations around him, or at least he tries.

Steve camps out several nights in a row, forgetting that even with the spare battery his phone will eventually die. He hikes to an alpine lake and messes around trying to catch a fish, surprising himself when he succeeds. The urge to call Danny and brag about it nearly overwhelms him, but he can’t even take a picture.

The next day he hikes back to his car, drives to the nearest motel, and charges his phone while he showers. He’s four hours ahead of Hawaii, and he waits until almost eleven to call Danny, hoping to catch him at home, maybe even done with dinner, settling down with a beer down by the beach. Steve can imagine Danny so perfectly, sitting in his chair in his cut-off jean shorts and worn out t-shirt, the setting sun turning his skin golden, a half-drunk Longboard hanging from his fingertips. For a minute the longing to be there next to Danny hits Steve so hard it’s like a punch to the gut, but Steve takes a few deep breaths and reminds himself that he’s away for a reason, even if he can’t quite remember what it is at the moment. Gathering his thoughts, Steve presses the button to call Danny. He nearly cheers with glee when Danny picks up and Steve discovers that he’s timed it perfectly, and they shoot the shit until Steve falls asleep to the sound of Danny’s voice in his ear. 

*****  
It occurs to Steve, in between stops at greasy roadside diners, nights alone on scratchy sheets, and more hiking than he’s done in years, that he’s supposed to be doing something besides touring national parks. Or at least, that touring national parks is supposed to be a means to an end. 

Steve doesn’t like to question his plan (and he sure isn’t going to question why he doesn’t want to question his plan). He figures he just needs to keep moving. He doesn’t know what else to do. Or at least that’s what he keeps telling himself.

*****  
Steve turns in his rental car in Denver, and springs for a decent hotel with excellent internet. He surfs the web for far too long, reading up on what’s been happening in the world. Nothing good. He finds himself checking sites on news closer to home, too. He reads about a new Hawaiian style farm–to-table restaurant opening in downtown Honolulu that Danny would love and finds himself clicking on the reservation button before he realizes that he probably can’t make it for this Friday at seven. Someone else is going to enjoy that table for two, but it won’t be him.

He considers making the reservation anyway, sending the information to Danny and suggesting that he go check out the place, on Steve. But he can’t decide how exactly to word it, or what he even would mean by it – he obviously doesn’t want Danny to bring a date, and although he’s not proud of the thought, he doesn’t really want to risk Danny asking someone as a friend but it turning into something romantic. Steve could ask Tani to take him, or Junior, but that’s kind of weird, too. Is Steve ridiculous enough to want Danny to go by himself and sit alone with his drink, like a damsel waiting for her sailor to return from the sea? Steve closes the website and moves on to looking at the hours for Denver’s natural history museum. Presumably he can’t get himself into any trouble there.

More to amuse Danny than anything else, after a few days in Denver Steve books a flight to Newark. Danny emails him an annotated list of restaurants and can’t miss tourist attractions, including a link to a Sopranos sites tour that makes Steve laugh. At the bottom of the list is an address and phone number for Eddie and Clara Williams.

Steve surprises himself with how much he wants to see Danny’s parents. It wakes him up in the middle of the night, the pull he feels. He imagines sitting down in their kitchen, eating Clara’s lasagna, catching up with Eddie over a beer. He’s half asleep, picturing the scene, how he’d tease Danny about eating too much garlic bread, how they’d argue about the last piece of tiramisu, when he realizes with a wave of physical pain that even if he goes to the Williams’ place in Jersey, Danny won’t be there.

Steve texts Danny from the airport in Denver, but it’s barely four a.m. in Hawaii. He doesn’t expect a response right away. But just before his plane takes off, he gets one, and he smiles as he closes his eyes and leans against the window.

*****  
Danny’s in the break room at headquarters, fighting with the new coffee machine Lou swears will change his life, trying not to feel sorry for himself. Steve has been away for almost two months, and Danny has missed the crap out of him. He knows Steve misses him too – it’s obvious in his constant texting, how he carefully times phone calls for when he knows Danny will be home, how he consults Danny on ideas for each step of his trip. 

The team has rallied around Danny, bringing over food and staying to hang out so often that Danny has to remind himself to make extra beer runs on his way home from work. Junior’s spending about half his time at Steve’s house and half at Tani’s – Danny is sure he’d be at Tani’s full time, if not for some unnecessary but no less appreciated belief that Danny needs the company. 

They’ve been rotating partners at work, no one wanting to presume to take Steve’s place as Danny’s partner. Danny’s most comfortable with Tani, and sometimes Adam, although for vastly different reasons (Tani prods at him until he talks about what’s bothering him; Adam doesn’t). Lou tends to stay back at base, and Junior and Quinn go where they’re needed. Danny finds himself missing Chin and Kono, wondering to himself how the hell he turned out to be the last man standing from their original squad. It doesn’t help the strangeness to know that Danny is now in charge; although Danny insisted in his obligatory meeting with the governor that it was only temporary, he’s not sure anyone believes him. 

When Danny inevitably wakes up in the dark in Steve’s bed, heart beating fast with the echo of a nightmare, it always takes him a minute to remember why Steve’s not there. Sometimes he thinks Steve is in Mexico looking for Doris. Back then Danny had spent every day trying not to imagine Steve dying, trying to understand why Steve felt that his life was worth so little that he would put it at risk over and over for a woman that didn’t want his help. 

Steve’s absence is different now, and Danny respects that. This time Steve’s not in any unusual danger, and he’s on this mission for his own benefit, not anyone else’s. It still sucks sleeping alone, but Danny can handle it. Especially with Steve sending him daily pictures of every squirrel in the northwestern United States.

“Danny – there you are.” Tani bursts into the break room, startling Danny out of his thoughts. “You’ve got a call.” 

Danny’s hand goes to his pocket, and he realizes Tani is holding his phone, which he had left charging in his office. “What’s up?” he asks, feeling a shiver run down his spine as he takes in the expression on her face.

“They called me too.” Lou joins them, his voice low as he puts a hand on Danny’s shoulder. “It’s Steve. He’s been in an accident.”

A blank calm washes over him and then Danny’s sprinting down the hall, his mind quickly providing the quickest route to the airport to avoid afternoon traffic. “Tani, get me on the next flight to Jersey. Then call my dad, have him go straight to the hospital. Lou, you’re in charge, bring in Lincoln if you need to-”

“Danny, wait,” Tani grabs his arm. “You’re not flying anywhere.”

Danny jerks away from Tani. “What, are you crazy?” Danny has to be with Steve, he’s hurt, oh god oh god he’s hurt, please don’t let him be -- 

“No, listen,” Lou says. “Steve’s not in Newark.”

“He didn’t get on the flight?” Then he’s still in Denver, Denver is a few hours closer, that’s okay, that’s good.

“Danny, he’s here, on Oahu. He’s at Queen’s Medical. He’s here.”

*****  
Steve sits on the hospital bed, gingerly touching the bandage covering the cut on his forehead. He glances at his watch, frowning to see that another half hour has gone by while he waits to be discharged. This is not how he planned his return to Hawaii, but at least Danny doesn’t know yet. If he gets out of here soon, Steve still has time to get home and shower before Danny finds out. 

“Where’s Steve, McGarrett, they said he was back here – I’m his partner-”

Or maybe not.

“Steve.” Danny skids to a stop in the doorway. His eyes look wild, and his hair is mussed. He’s breathing hard, his chest heaving. Danny is the best thing Steve has seen in months.

He jumps up, quick to reassure him. “Danny, it’s okay, I’m fine-”

“Steve.” Danny takes a few steps closer, his eyes flickering up and down Steve’s body. He reaches out, his hands trembling. 

Steve steps towards him. “Really, I’m okay. Cab driver got rear-ended, no big deal, just bumps and bruises. I didn’t want them to call you. I wanted to surprise you.”

Danny blinks. “Surprise me?”

“Yeah, I figured I’d get some beers, hang out down on the beach until you got home.”

Danny just stares at him for a long moment, then rocks back, the tension draining out of his body as a smile teases at his lips. “You kind of blew it.”

Steve shrugs mock apologetically. “Honolulu drivers. What can you do.” Steve steps forward, closing the space between them. Then Danny’s shaking hands take hold of Steve’s waist, and Steve’s palms are on Danny’s face. “I missed you,” Steve breathes out. “Every goddamn day. So much.”

Danny presses a soft kiss to Steve’s lips, then another, and pulls back until Steve can see his eyes. “I missed you too.” Danny bites his lip, and Steve can feel him steel himself as he looks up at Steve. “How long are you here for?”

“No, that’s not – I’m not just here for a visit. I’m done.”

“Done?” 

Steve hands fall to Danny’s shoulders, run up and down his arms, muscles still tense under his dress shirt. “Done traveling. I’m back.”

“But…” Danny looks up at him, hope in his eyes. “You said you needed to get space. To find peace.” 

Steve snorts a little, grin tugging at his cheeks. “Apparently I’m a cliché.”

Danny cocks his head, a matching grin spreading slowly across his face. “Oh? In what way, exactly, are you a cliché?”

Steve grabs Danny and kisses him soundly, hampered only by the fact that they’re each on the edge of slightly hysterical laughter. He wraps his arms around Danny’s shoulders and digs his face into his neck. “I didn’t need to go anywhere. Whatever I’ve got to do, whatever I’ve got to think through, it’s not gonna work if I’m away. What I need is right here.” He squeezes Danny harder. “Right here.”

“You came back for the pineapples?” Danny teases.

“Yeah, for the pineapples,” Steve says, kissing Danny again full on the lips, then pulling back to look him in the eyes. “And, you know, you. The love of my life.” 

Danny beams up at him, his cheeks pink with happiness. “Yeah?” 

“Yeah.” Steve knows what he wants now. More importantly, he’s going to let himself have it. “Come on, Danny. It’s time to go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it's a wrap - at least, on this season's journey. Please say hi one more time - as I said at the beginning of this endeavor, it's hearing from you all that makes this so worthwhile. I hope you enjoyed my take on what really could have/should have gone on in season 10!


End file.
